On Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:01:07 +0200, Axel Berger wrote:

> alister wrote:
>> (that said I don't want to go back to pre decimal coinage)
>
> I loved it, it was so quaint and esoteric. And then i looked forward to
> my first visit to England at the age of twelve -- and they had had the
> gall to go decimal shortly before. Oh, the disappointment. I still have
> and treasure some paperbacks that give the price in shillings and pence
> on their covers.

For sheer coinage bliss you had to go to India on the '70s. They had:

Value:  1       2        3        5      10        paise
Shape:  square  8 waves  6 sides  square 12 waves
Metal:  Alloy   Alloy    Alloy    Al     alloy or bronze

Value:  20      25       50  paise       1 rupee
Shape:  round   round    round           round
Metal:  bronze  'silver' brass           brass

They got bigger from 1 paise to 10 paise, but the 20 paise was smaller
than the 10 and the 20 was smaller still, the 50 was slightly smaller
than the 10 and the rupee was quite big. by 'waves' I mean that these
were round coins with wavy edges, so 8 waves means there are 8 wave peaks
and 8 troughs round the coin.

I remember 1,5,10,50 and 100 rupee notes in common use. The one and five
rupee notes came in blocks with gum down one side like a scribble pad: it
was common to see somebody count and then tear off several to pay for
something. But, the range of banknote value was enormous - the biggest
note at the time was 5000 rupees. For reference, IIRC the late '70s
exchange rate was 16 rupees to the pound or 8 to the dollar.

The odd range of coins had something to do with the old Raj era coinage,
when there used to be 16 annas to the rupee.


--
martin@   | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org       |

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