Old British Coins

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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:41 pm

In a previous life I spent a few months in the UK (late 70s). A few days ago I was going through some old possessions to see what I can throw out. I came across a stash of some coins I brought back and forgot about. Some are old 1 and 2 shilling pieces that were vestiges of the system before the UK converted to the decimal system. Most of these have the Queen's profile, but some show King George VI on the front.

Are these still in circulation? Are they worth anything beyond their face value? Maybe I can mail them to a lad to cover documentation fees, taxes, storage charges, etc?

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:46 pm

Sadly they are not still in circulation.
Unless they are a particularly rare coin they are worthless.

Have a look at this site

http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/coins.html

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:43 pm

Worth nowt.
If you had a couple of trunks full, that would be a different story...

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 26 Sep 2008 Posts: 689

Got any thrupenny bits in there?

Maybe an old tanner or half a crown....?

How about a farthing?

Smile

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 9:36 am

or if you come across any 20p pieces with no date then I suggest you declutter, I'll help if you like, just send it/them to me Wink

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:54 am

And the legendary 1933 penny. Only seven or eight were minted that year. One is in a museum, four are propping up foundations in churches for some reason, and two are privately owned. It was rumoured that there is still one floating around somewhere. You could live very well if you were to find it and offer the thing for sale.

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:09 pm

^^^ Now that is a great story, right now I'm fighting the impulse to go and empty my kids money boxes of all their pennies...

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:00 pm

@Hitchhiker: Thanks for the link. I ended reading more about British coinage than I ever imagined. Interesting stuff. I noted that the UK went to capronickel after WW2, which means that I can't even have them melted down for the silver.

@N N N: No thrupenny bits, half crowns, or farthings. But I did run across a sixpence or two.

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:26 pm

If any of those coins are silver in colour and pre 1947 then there is a market for them because they do have a silver content.

Check out e-bay to find how much they are fetching at the moment.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

I still have some predecimal coins around.
They were mostly given to me as pocket money.
I take great care of them as my granny always said if I looked after my thrupenny bits when I was young that I would be grateful in later years.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 21 Nov 2008 Posts: 619

All this talk of coins made me go and look for a box of coins I have with a British one in there. Found it--a 1955 2 shilling. Nice looking coin.

I looked up its value and Hitchhiker was right. Basically worthless unless you have a perfect uncirculated version in which case it's worth a whopping 3 pounds.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 26 Sep 2008 Posts: 689

@ Nanny Ogg, you're right loosing your thrupenny bits at any time isn't nice, especially for a woman!

My gran always told me to keep me hand on me ha'penny .... Embarassed

Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:17 pm

N N N wrote:

@ Nanny Ogg, you're right loosing your thrupenny bits at any time isn't nice, especially for a woman!

My gran always told me to keep me hand on me ha'penny .... Embarassed

You aren't Scottish by any chance? (No slur intended. My greatx3 grandfather left Glasgow in 1810 and I have his surname).

Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:37 pm

^^^
My dad emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada from Inverness, in 1957. All of that side of the family are scattered around Scotland.

Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 12:51 am

Clean them up and give them to a kid (or three) who collects coins.

Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 4:52 am

^^^Good idea. I counted them up and I have £2.365. I don't think that would get me a Big Mac in London. Sad

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:47 pm

You mentioned a "Big Mac"

Unfortunately MacDonald's don't seem to know about UK pre-decimal terminology.

They seem to that that "a bob" is the slang term for a £pound.

Quote:

The [MacDonald's] advert, which promotes the Pound Saver Menu, begins "the pound, also known as a bob", a statement which, strictly speaking, is not true.

Technically, a bob is a term for a shilling, or five pence, and of far less value than a pound.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100124/tuk-mcdonald-s-pounded-over-bob-menu-adv-45dbed5.html

The Americans are getting the blame .... however...

MacDonald's spokesperon wrote:

"Although a 'bob' was formerly used as a slang term for the shilling until the introduction of decimalisation in 1971, research has shown it is now more commonly used as slang for a pound or money in general.

Not where I come from !

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 22 Jan 2010 Posts: 85

If they blame the US we have a diffrent term its used for and its not a pound or anything like a form of money. In the US bob is slang for Battery opperated Boyfriend.. But British slang is the cause of one of your soldier boys haveing his ass handed to him when he asked me for a fag.. After the fight I found out me ment a cigarette, and gave him one.
Tim

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:37 pm

^^^I heard fag used as a term for cigarette during my high school days. It also had the other meaning back then.

I used the Big Mac as an example because there is a Big Mac index that is used (tongue-in-cheek) to measure buying power throughout the world. See http://www.oanda.com/currency/big-mac-index. I still may have enough for a Big Mac in London, but I can't add fries or even a soft drink. Sad

If somebody decided that a bob is a pound, what is a quid now? Confused

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 11:34 pm

lakeside77 wrote:

what is a quid now? Confused

six quid is just about the same as 'one ill octopus' ... does that help ?

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 12:18 am

Yes . . . after a bit of reflection. If I owed you six quid would you accept a clammy octopus?

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 26 Sep 2008 Posts: 689

lakeside77 wrote:

You aren't Scottish by any chance.

My great great (maternal) grandfather came from Kilmarnock and his surname was McPike apparantly, so yes there's whiskey in my veins and dust in my pockets! Laughing

BTW - "thrupenny bits" as used by Nanny Ogg and myself is cockney rhyming slang ... and I doubt either of us have even heard the sound of the bells of Bow.

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 8:40 am

Start paying your lads in old money. Tell them you were in a 'comma' for 40 years and that is the only currency you have since you woke up, because you couldn't get to the bank in February 1971 and change it when we went decimal.

It'll be fun seeing them try and covert dollars into old pounds, shillings and pence. Very Happy

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 3:14 pm

Greetings Friend!

I am Dr. John Watson, a British Soldier serving in Afghanistan...

Smile