page_title: Decimal Day
section_title: Preparation
hierarchical_section_title: Decimal Day / United Kingdom / Preparation
caption_attribution_description: English: British decimalisation training stamps in blocks.
context_page_description: Decimal Day in the United Kingdom and in Ireland was on 15 February 1971, the day on which each country decimalised its respective £sd currency of pounds, shillings, and pence. Before this date, in the United Kingdom, the British pound was made up of 20 shillings, each of which was made up of 12 pence, a total of 240 pence. With the decimalisation, the pound kept its old value and name, and the only changes were in relation to the subunits. The shilling was abolished, and the pound was subdivided into 100 "new pence", each of which was worth 2.4 "old pence". In Ireland, the Irish pound had a similar £sd currency structure and similar changes took place.
context_section_description: Under the new system, the pound was retained but was divided into 100 new pence, denoted by the symbol p. New coinage was issued alongside the old coins. The 5p and 10p coins were introduced in April 1968 and were the same size, composition and value as the shilling and two shillings coins in circulation with them. In October 1969, the 50p coin was introduced, with the 10s note withdrawn on 20 November 1970. That reduced the number of new coins that had to be introduced on Decimal Day and meant that the public was already familiar with three of the six new coins. Small booklets were made available, containing some or all of the new denominations.
  The old halfpenny was withdrawn from circulation on 31 July 1969, and the half-crown (2s 6d) followed on 31 December to ease the transition. (The farthing had last been minted in 1956 and had ceased to be legal tender in 1961.)
  There was a substantial publicity campaign in the weeks before Decimalisation Day, including a song by Max Bygraves called "Decimalisation". The BBC broadcast a series of five-minute programmes, "Decimal Five", to which The Scaffold contributed some specially-written tunes. ITV repeatedly broadcast a short drama called Granny Gets The Point, starring Doris Hare, the actress in On The Buses in which an elderly woman who does not understand the new system is taught to use it by her grandson. At 10 am on 15 February itself and again the following week, BBC1 broadcast 'New Money Day', a 'Merry-go-Round' schools' programme in which puppet maker Peter Firmin and his small friend Muskit encountered different prices and new coins when they went to the shops.
  Banks received stocks of the new coins in advance, which were issued to retailers shortly before Decimalisation Day to enable them to give change immediately after the changeover. Banks were closed from 3:30 pm on Wednesday 10 February 1971 to 10:00 am on Monday 15 February to enable all outstanding cheques and credits in the clearing system to be processed and customers' account balances to be converted from £sd to decimal. In many banks, the conversion was done manually, as few bank branches were then computerised. February had been chosen for Decimal Day because it was the quietest time of the year for the banks, shops and transport organisations.
  Many items were priced in both currencies for some time before and after the change. Prior to Decimal Day, the double pricing had been displayed as, for example, 1s (5p). On Decimal Day, the order was switched to 5p (1s). For example, the latter order was used on most football programmes during the 1970–71 season. High denomination (10p, 20p and 50p) stamps were issued on 17 June 1970. Post offices were issued with very simple training stamps in the same colours as the upcoming decimal stamps.
  Exceptions to the 15 February introduction were British Rail and London Transport, which went decimal one day early, the former urging customers, if they chose to use pennies or threepenny pieces, to pay them in multiples of 6d (2+p, the lowest common multiple of the two systems). Bus companies, many of which were state-owned by the National Bus Company, were another exception and went decimal on 21 February.
caption: British decimalisation training stamps in the same colours and values as the upcoming decimal stamps.
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