Decimal Currency, 14 February 1966 - Television advertisements

[@lennypayne4241]

I love how at the end of these commercials, everyone just abruptly freezes up for an awkwardly long amount of time.

[@Themostbritshcatofalluniverse]

yea

[@Themostbritshcatofalluniverse]

I think it’s because it’s very old so it gets frozen cause they didn’t make a end scene or this is old

[@BusaRider86]

The last ad is so clever. A reassurance that your doing it right, slightly different examples, repetative theme coupled with clear voices and a catchy jingle. And TV was only fairly new at the time.

[@oscarosullivan4513]

Different from the UK ones

[@QuarioQuario54321]

That old lady was probably born in the 19th century while that kid would in his 60s now.

[@iconitoblubberry]

exacly in this scenario the gran being in her 70s-80s would have almost differently been a Victorian born in the 1880s-90s that's pre-federation folks! and she would have seen Australia go from a series of colonies to a country, two world wars, a depression and now a currency change, boy the life she would have lived!

[@Mechanical_Turk]

I met both kinds of Australians.

[@21_f_aus]

​@iconitoblubberry my mum's grand mother was born in 1909 while her grandfather 1896 my great grandmother would have been in her 50's in the 1960's... this grandmother in the commercials could have been in her 50's or 60's can't assume she's older just because she's a grandmother...

[@mariostar13]

For the UK: Fifty new pence is exactly 10 shillings, In one pound, there are 100 new pence, Five new pence equal one shilling, In 1971, this will fully commence!

[@seprishere]

That is an interesting point - was the UK right to keep the pound and introduce the decimal half penny?

[@mariostar13]

@@seprishere The Conservatives were all for the 10/- system and for scrapping the pound unit.

[@shinatham53]

Still Very Confusing

[@cmyk8964]

The pound will be divided into hundred new pence Five new pence make one shilling, doesn’t it make sense? The change will soon commence in 1971 And the value of the pound will be the same when we’re done Clink go the new pence, clink clink clink D-day is coming much sooner than you think The pence are not exact, but it isn’t all that bad All transactions will be rounded to the new pence a tad

[@LGranado-pj6nb]

how?​@@shinatham53

[@dazwall5092]

"Always pay a little more, and you get the right change", people had this drummed in their head and continued long after the "14th of February, 1966", e.g. some people will have the correct money in their hand but hand over a bill only just larger than the total cost because they can't be bothered doing the math.

[@revinhatol]

Clink goes the cents, folks, Clink clink clink Changeover Day is closer than you think Learn the value of the coins and the way that they appear and things will be much smoother when the decimal point is here!

[@iamthinking2252_]

what stood out to me was - The 1 shilling to 10 cents conversion, at least that part is neat (but after 6 pennies... ouch?) - Telling shoppers just to give more than needed, and get change - offloading more of the maths onto cashiers etc, who should be more familiar with it

[@monaguebilly7858]

Australia will start using dollars and cents on February 14th, 1966. New Zealand will start using dollars and cents on July 10th, 1967. United Kingdom will start using new pounds and pence on the 15th of February, 1971.

[@lispbeth]

how great this brought back so many memories thanks national archives well done

[@mmtraynor]

I remember this day so well. I had spent 18 months in the USA, but was back in Australia by then. I was helping my Dad at his Mobile gas station in Indooroopilly, Queensland. I had Glenn with me who was 2 at the time, and pregnant with Brett. Some people came in with the new money system, and some with the old Australian money. Can't remember if the pumps had been converted to the dollar system or if they were still reading in the pounds, shillings and pence system. I am so glad that I was there to help my Dad, and keep him calmed down. Now when I go back to Australia for visits, they are using the metric system, and have for years, which is so much easier than 12" one foot, 3 feet one yard. What is the hold up America.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

+Marlene Traynor America finds it difficult to give up it's fabled Imperial ways.

[@rahb1]

+Marlene Traynor Glenn was only two at the time, *and* pregnant with Brett? Sounds like a near miracle to me!

[@smooooth_]

+Christopher Sobieniak That's the saddest part. They've tried for a while and were so stubborn as a group that we wouldn't let it happen. Maybe they will be able to try again soon, since people have changed since the 70s and may be more open to changing to the superior system. They already teach it in science classes in most schools. Just not seen as important since it's not used in everyday life.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Smooooth Assuming we can even get the south on board this time. It's true we really don't use it as a regular thing.

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

​@@smooooth_ I think the people there are just as stubborn as they ever were. :-/ And the reason that they teach it in science class is because the USA officially accepted the Metric System in 1878. It's just that outside the science and technology sector US customary units remain ubiquitous.

[@petenjohn1]

Growing up in Darwin we had no television, but we did get the click go the shears jingle on 8DN. I was in second year high in 1966 - first year at the new High School at Bullocky Point (more senior years were there way before we got there).

[@Murdoch493]

6 pounds of potatoes for 50 cents? GEEZE Thats awesome!

[@hyunjinki1995]

Murdoch493 inflation rate is the answer

[@trevorbaker2225]

I would just exchange the 50 cents for 6 pounds.

[@AugmentedOwl]

I'm more gotten by the fact that it says 6 pounds- wiki shows me the full metrification came later; but it feels so odd to have an imperial measurement with a metric currency

[@iconitoblubberry]

A, i think they're talking weight not money and B, ind you they're only getting paid about $12.400 a yesr or $238 a week

[@SuperSpaceGirlHDTV]

Best Valentine's Day Present Ever!

[@revinhatol]

AMEN!

[@revinhatol]

Sweet!

[@Ben-xe8ps]

I have a question. Were the 'pounds' used in Australia and New Zealand at this time 'pounds sterling' having the same value as the UK pound, the same as the banknotes issued by England, Scotland, Gibraltar, Channel Islands etc today all have the same value, or were the Australian and New Zealand pounds actually separate currencies with their own values in respect of each other and sterling?

[@user-FUCKYOU18]

@@amazingalloverfitness-onli1789 it same as dollars

[@emmarose4234]

0:14 *KIDS!* By the way, in the second ad, why isn’t the dollar next to the cent instead of the penny??

[@rareblues78daddy]

2:49 "GAH! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?!?!?!"

[@revinhatol]

He's the father of the family.

[@disoriented1]

I understand the conversion to decimalization. But, why the change from pounds to dollars?..perhaps changing names prevents confusion?.

[@xenophiliusrex2501]

I think the value of the pound then would have made a decimal penny too great in value and they didn't want to have to mint half-new-penny coins that would have been worth 1.2 old pennies. Also then sixpence would have been worth 2.5 new pence instead of 5 which meant they couldn't have just have a new coin to correspond to each old coin as they ended up doing for all the important coins (over sixpence) with sixpence equal to 5 cents, one shilling or 12 pence equal to 10 cents, a florin or 2 shillings worth 20 cents, 5 shillings being 50 cents, 10 shillings being a dollar, etc.

[@disoriented1]

@@xenophiliusrex2501 ...Wow!!...I know I stubbornly cling to the Imperial system of measurement, but I can't believe it's as complicated as that system. But there's something to be said about the value of a base unit of currency (the pound sterling, which has to have its 'pennies' divided into sixths!...it costs out U.S. mints several times over the value of each penny (1 cent) coin we still stubbornly produce!

[@seprishere]

Because otherwise they would have needed decimal half pence like the UK had.

[@seprishere]

@@xenophiliusrex2501 In other words, what the UK actually did in 1971?

[@kelpermoon23]

@@disoriented1you aren’t stubborn, your correct

[@jamesgudgeon4868]

We no longer have 1 And 2cents 3:07 3:09

[@dominiccase2384]

It's a shame the subtitles can't spell shilling. The schilling was Austrian currency.

[@brackenboy6321]

Most subtitles are automated, they probably didn't have subtitles in the original ads.

[@hebneh]

I'm puzzled why people had to be told to pay a little more and get change...didn't they already do that with the old money?

[@cj6859]

One of the reasons is so that the new money was rolled out quicker. That is what I was told at the time

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

+Cj I'm sure it made exchanging it a lot quicker.

[@FrodoOne1]

+hebneh It meant that if anyone was at all "confused" they could pay a debt of (say) $0.27 in the "old money" with 3/- (That is 3 Shillings) and then receive 3 Cents in change. What is NOT mentioned in these advertisements is that there were other more detailed explanations of the (small) problem in that 6 Pennies = 5 Cents in this conversion. (So something's gotta give and is someone being "ripped off" in this inequality?) While I can't, at the minute, think of the little rhyme that was used, the "conversion" was as follows - when the final number of cents was less than 10: - 1 Penny, 1 Cent 2 Pennies, 2 Cents 3 Pennies, 2 Cents Too 4 Pennies, 3 Cents 5 Pennies, 4 Cents 6 Pennies, 5 Cents New 7 Pennies, 6 Cents 8 Pennies, 7 Cents 9 Pennies, 7 Cents Too 10 Pennies, 8 Cents 11 Pennies, 9 Cents 12 Pennies, 10 Cents New So, the payment in "old" money of 3/- ($0.30) may have been be made up of Shillings (possibly mixed with sixpences, threepences and new 5 Cent, or higher, coins) and Pennies, TOTALLING 3 Shillings and the change received would have been 3 Cents (BUT, one could not mix Penny and Cent coins, unless they totaled 6 Pence and 5 Cents respectively.) If one analyses this, it can be seen that no one should have been more than 1 Penny "out of pocket" at the end of the entire decimalisation process and they may have gained one penny in the process. Of course, many people just kept the old pennies as curiosities and the value of the metal concerned is now more than their "face" value. Just before the conversion day, one large department store made a detailed analysts of all their transactions for the day, assuming that their (about to be converted to decimal) prices had been in force and the payments had all been made in "old" money - which they were. They assessed the "error" involved over the total of all transactions to have been 3 Pence (or 3 Cents. I am not now sure which and in which direction the "error" was, but, obviously, this overall "error" was insignificant.) A similar thing goes on today in Australia where 1 and 2 Cent coins have been withdrawn from circulation but prices may be denominated in values that are NOT a multiple of 5 Cents, which is the smallest coin now in circulation. Any extra 1 or 2 cents is "rounded down" to zero and any extra 3 or 4 Cents is "rounded up" to 5 Cents on the bill. If you pay by credit or debit card, you usually get charged the exact value to the cent.

[@dallasland8872]

+hebneh it was cause the system was to complicated so the switched to dollars

[@donttalkcrap]

If they paid EXACT OLD money, then they would never receive the new currency. Duh! Pretty simple for the average person to comprehend.

[@iconitoblubberry]

In this scenario the gran being in her 70s-80s would have almost differently been a Victorian born in the 1880s-90s that's pre-federation folks! and she would have seen Australia go from a series of colonies to a country, two world wars, a depression and now a currency change, boy the life she would have lived!

[@thegermanguy6129]

when the gran said that she hasn't 23 cents i think gran you can pay 2s6d that equals to 25 cents so her Change were 5 cents

[@tuppyglossop222]

No her change would be 2 cents. Either the 2 cent coin or the 1 cent coin.

[@David-jx4gw]

She gave a mix of currencies 2 shillng and 10 cents. So 3 shillings or 30 cents and got 7 cents change.

[@Methne555]

Out of curiosity, why did we move from Pounds to Dollars?

[@beaniehead4]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4u3loqCdpZ_d9U

[@bl1tz533]

Because the old english system was rarted for some reason.

[@Methne555]

@Anthony Cotter Thank you!

[@txquartz]

Historically the US and other dollars were controlled in exchange rates and it was close to half a pound. So when Australia changed over, they found using the "dollar" type unit more convenient for decimalization

[@emmarose4234]

Anyone know the voice actors? The grandmother sounds familiar...

[@nickfromm5315]

Australians LOVE having monarchy, they voted to keep it! Obedience to the Crown is an Australians source of pride!

[@gorillaau]

So it was twenty shillings in a pound? 😊

[@Make_Australia_British_Again]

I wish Australia just kept and decimalised the pound.

[@yaboiyoshio8622]

your struggle is pointless, yet I admire your tenacity

[@ComicToonProductions]

Of course, the pound sterling is a very prominent way of currency that must spread still, the dollar and cents sound like a rip off and a sham.

[@Make_Australia_British_Again]

@@ComicToonProductionsit just sounds so much more commercial and less sophisticated.

[@jamesgovett2501]

You may have noticed the mistakes made if you look closely it starts out right with the Australian dollar symbol $ as having the correct TWO vertical strokes this was originally designed as advertised on “Dollar Bill” to distinguish it from the US $ symbol but some parts of the animation only show the single US vertical stroke and l have always stroked the $ sign twice as told to us by our schoolteachers of the time and still do today just by habit

[@BritishRaceCaller]

James, I am from the UK but work in the US as a racecaller and always mark up my prep chart for races with a dollar sign crossed twice to demote a longshot in the race! my US colleagues have often mentioned it when they see my notes!

[@disoriented1]

Most people I know here in the U.S.interchangeably use one or two strokes when writng the dollar symbol...we were never taught there was a wrong or right way.

[@xXProBlackShadowKiller95Xx]

Why did the algorithm send me here?

[@mitch19636]

ahhhhhh 48 years ago today......

[@FrodoOne1]

And my 30th Birthday!

[@nannettesidebottom1021]

+FrodoOne1 Happy Birthday to you!

[@FrodoOne1]

Nannette Sidebottom Thank you. 50 years ago seems to me only like yesterday!

[@Xalgucennia]

6 lb (about 2.7 kg) potatoes for 50c, the good old days

[@BBC600]

Except now in Canada with the penny going I get ripped off a penny in my change!

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

+BBC600 I feel your pain. I wonder when we'll be next down here?

[@hyunjinki1995]

BBC600 the Canada was changeover before the Dominion of Canada has been made So when Canadian dollar was born all Canadian pound, Nova Scotian Dollar, New Brunswick Dollar, Prince Edward island Dollar, Manitoban Dollar was already decimilised

[@disoriented1]

From the U.S.; I don't know about anywhere else, but it costs the U.S. mint 7 cents to make one penny..1 cent. But..those of us my age still know the old saying 'penny wise and pound foolish'!..my parents used it! .Until a few years ago, I couldn't make sense of it..penny is money..pound is weight. Then..duh, I realized this is a legacy of our motherland!

[@aussie7772]

What they say Gran? Here we go: Here come the shears boys clip clip clip( we still rippin ya off boys snip snip snip! We will still charge ya cents of 01 2 & 3 & 4 & 99 when they don't exist Rip Rip Rip !!!

[@nannettesidebottom1021]

+aussie 777 Good on ya for yelling out what we are getting ripped off for!

[@donttalkcrap]

@@nannettesidebottom1021 Groan. You dumb arses really make total fools of yourself talking this kind of shit. You have no clue what you're talking about. Sheesh. Glad they don't make him as stupid as you two these days

[@hedgemist691]

Shilling NEVER had a 'c' after the 's'.

[@vytah]

Someone confused Austria and Australia, as Austrian currency was called Schilling.

[@TheStewart2601]

Could you imagine that today ? There's not a 16 to 30 year old that could get their head around the mental arithmetic at the cash register

[@myname7056]

I have, and I was born in 1987.

[@Make_Australia_British_Again]

I can do it I was born in 2000

[@ACDZ123]

Give them cash at the McDonald's drive thru and they nearly pass out in sheer terror 😅

[@samb123]

I'm 23 and I worked in fast food with 16-25 year olds and none of them struggled 😂

[@ACDZ123]

@samb123 yeah, how come none of them can count the change , even when the cash register will calculate it for them? None of them can count period because you're not taught at school properly like older generations were .in other words you're all dumb as rocks ..sorry kid just a fact

[@BoogsterSU2]

10 Slashdots. Lol

[@DustBoyFN]

!960s Australians just sound English

[@lucymorrison]

they didn't really, but anything goverments put out would have this miserable fake poshy accent

[@townonhill]

Its SHILLING not schilling

[@mariostar13]

It's either!

[@thegermanguy6129]

Schilling is German and shilling is English

[@lucymorrison]

@@mariostar13it's shilling. The Australian currency was NEVER called schilling. That's Austrian, two different ass countries.

[@Meijimack]

And remember, always pay a little more and you'll get the right change every time! Because the working classes are so much smarter than us, gran!

[@puffpomcentral4822]

Why these kids so obsessed with dollars

[@nicks4934]

LSD was clever. £1 could be divided by 2,3,4,5,6,8,10,12. Decimal pound only by 2,4,5,10. Not so dumb eh?

[@dgarrard100]

Dozenal is superior to decimal (at least in terms of divisibility), but I don't see why there needed to be three levels of currency. Why not eliminate the shilling and just have a pound be 240 pence, or eliminate the pound and just deal with shillings and pence?

[@raphaelkraus]

I find the accents and date format a little odd in this series of ads. They both seem quite Americanised to me. Compare both to this other ad for decimal currency: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4u3loqCdpZ_d9U

[@sublimeade]

Dat grocer's ass

[@Hampstead343]

Huuuuuuuuge mistake back then, they should've never decimalised their currency.

[@Irishism]

but remember old pound system was complicated even more complicated when computer is more used, even you are be used with it, it still annoying to count how many coins you had. Also Australia starting to trade with US, and global trading because rest of the world use decimalized currency and its much easier to use in finance

[@ComicToonProductions]

But the dollar and cents concept sounds like a rip off/knock-off

[@leighwest5564]

Mansplaining starts at an early age.