Dollar Bill and Australians Keep The Wheels Of Industry Turning

Made in 1965 for the Decimal Currency Board in preparation for the changeover to decimal currency on February 14 1966. Dollar Bill and company parade to the repeated strains of the Decimal Currency song, and an exercise in simple addition in pounds, shillings and pence is included to show the virtues of the new system.

[@c8Lorraine1]

I was a year 7 student in 1966. I recall having to go shopping with my mother and convert currency and weights for her. Conversion to the currency was seamless. Now Australia sells its polymer technology to the world to protect foreign notes being counterfeit.

[@KingFahtah]

Did they even have year 7 in 1966 or was it "first form"?

[@aycc-nbh7289]

We do have anti-counterfeit measures on US banknotes, but they don’t seem to have as strong of polymer coating, since they tear easily.

[@seamusmckeon9109]

Weights?

[@oscarosullivan4513]

Can you go swimming with Australian money

[@user-nf9xc7ww7m]

Their accents here...wow. when English around the world sounded more similar...

[@rileykernaghan]

Still the best government ad of all time

[@CoolCold.]

Yup!

[@allieniner675]

Idk, Dumb Ways to Die was pretty good! 😂

[@hebneh]

When I visited in Australia in 1991 I remember being told that some old people even then still referred to coins by their pre-decimal names.

[@repentorperish1405]

...we still do.! We still talk about a bob, two bob, a zac, etc. The affectionisms were just transferred to the same sized coins, 10c became the new 'bob', 20c became the new 'two bob', and 5c became the new 'zac' (sixpence) and I was 10years old when we switched over, I remember there were STILL one shilling, two shilling, and sixpenny pieces circulating in the currency many years later, all happily masquerading as new legal tender 10c, 20c, and 5c pieces respectively - and it was good to still have them there in the currency for so long, they were just treated as 10c, 20c, and 5c. coins. But we also had the copper 1c and 2c coins as well, I'm sure I remember them being mentioned in 1965-66. The one cent coin was about as big as the old silver theepenny piece (thripence) or the old copper farthing (¼ penny), and the copper 2c coin was about as big as the old copper hapenny (½ penny), and, much to my disagreement, they stopped circulating the 1c and 2c coins in the earky 90s [Only got 3 quarters of a 9 litre plastic bucket full of them in the shed ! 😊) Going metric in weights volumes and measures was a bit different. Even though I've spent most of my working life in engineering and steel fabrication and welding shops, for most of my life I could straight away visualize what 5foot 10inches (5'10") was far better than I could visualize what a 178cm was. and 10 stone (appx 140 lb) better than 63.5 kg. 😊

[@clavichord]

@@repentorperish1405 My parents and I emigrated to the UK in 1980 and the UK still had two shilling coins in circulation, treated as 10 new pence, I think up until the 1990s when the size of 10p coins in the UK got smaller and so the old coins were phased out.... more than 20 years after decimalisation in the UK in 1971.... interesting that the Australian Dollar was pegged to 10/- in 1966 and not to 20/-, but considering the value of one pound in '66, it was logical, I guess.

[@scottwalker8021]

@@clavichord They borrowed that idea from South Africa's changeover to the rand in 1961.

[@danmerta2707]

@@repentorperish1405 In about 1983 we got a 1905 farthing in our change after grocery shopping. I still have it.

[@suekennedy1595]

My grandma called twenty cents a schillings until she died in 1990.

[@casparvoncampenhausen5249]

Making coins with the same value the same size is actually really smart

[@NobodysSon]

I thought the exact same thing. Very clever!

[@almostfm]

When Britain converted, they did the same thing with the florin and shilling. The new 10p and 5p coins were the same size as the old ones, and the sixpence circulated at least until 1980 at 2 1/2 p. The shilling lasted in circulation until 1990, and the florin was still in circulation the first time I went to Britain in 1992.

[@annoldham3018]

@@almostfm that's right. In the 90s the 5p and 10p coins were made smaller so the old shilling and florin didn't actually cease to be legal tender until 20 years after decimalsation day in 1971. But boy did people moan about it. I'm so glad we didn't convert to th Euro as it would be like 71 all over again. Now we are out of the EU that's unlikely.

[@SacredDaturana]

The ditty is so ridiculously catchy. I heard it in a museum a few weeks back, and I'm still humming it unconsciously.

[@chaslittle9488]

Sung to the tune of... click go the shears boys click click click... Rolf Harris

[@jennettepuglisi686]

I remember this add, 1966 was my first year in high school as young teenagers we sang this jingle incessantly

[@PunTimesWithNeil]

Hahaha I guess some things never change

[@suekennedy1595]

It’s very catchy I was only three born 1963 but it’s still in my memory bank.

[@therealskull4786]

Only found out about this a few days ago (I'm from the US) but it constantly gets stuck in my head.

[@realgamer4.12team2]

Ad

[@caiholroyd178]

"Bosses will be happier" I like how the ad is targeted at making your boss happier, not yourself.

[@aycc-nbh7289]

It would be easier to communicate information on item values if everyone knew the exact values of items rather than having to use multiples of subdivisions of currencies. Imagine if you were developing an eCommerce site and you had to program adding values together in £-s-d.

[@user-ce1cu5my4j]

Happy boss = less headache for his worker

[@nobilesnovushomo58]

Well they are the most politically affluent and the ones doling out the paychecks… And this is to convince business owners as well. Especially over a change that might’ve been seen as needless.

[@pkre707]

Bosses = Business. Just saying business will run smoother.

[@adamabele785]

Things that make economical sense have a greater chance to be supported by businesses.

[@revinhatol]

RIP, Ross Higgins, the voice of Mr. Pound. (1931-2016)

[@shadownet4597]

50th anniversary of decimal currency in Australia too, hah.

[@apd8339]

yes he did the voice of Mr Pound indeed.

[@lexiev1250]

RIP Ted Bullpitt

[@freeman10000]

Well, you learn something every day.

[@KingFahtah]

Pickle me Grandmother!

[@kennethlawrence1864]

Happy 50th Anniversary today Dollar Bill. I was 360 days old when we converted.

[@danielhedger5904]

My Dad was 44 Days old when they converted

[@smooooth_]

The decimal system is to money as the metric system is to measurement

[@Sennmut]

Wow. THAT bad?

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

@@Sennmut - That good. I wish that the United States wasn't the last major country to adopt such an easy system. We were the first to adopt the decimal money system.

[@Sennmut]

Like I said...THAT bad?????

[@ClementsDan04]

@@OldsVistaCruiser : Actually, we were the *second* to adopt decimal currency. Russia already had 100 kopeks to the ruble since 1704.

[@mariostar13]

We're one of 3 countries to not switch over to the metric system in daily life, despite Congress passing the 1975 Metric Conversion Act.

[@jonshecket3010]

Imagine if they tried to do this today. People would be up in arms because how dare the Government change anything.

[@Dan40049]

Yep there'd be anti decimal protests. "My currency my choice." lol

[@davisdelp8131]

@@Dan40049 haha

[@danielschick7554]

Hell there are cranks in the UK that want to revert back to per-decimalization

[@bodacious12]

@@danielschick7554 Because dozenal is better than decimal (20/- = £1 was unnecessary tho)

[@liamnicholls7106]

@@danielschick7554 Yeah because its not recognised as lawful tender under the constitution and has no head of power. The queen of australia on our dollar bill is a trademark registered in the US Washington DC. It also doesn’t have the power to pay off debt - only discharge it and drive inflation. It’s also not completely backed by real value because of inflation, so in a time of crisis there wont be enough gold in the reserves to back its inflationary figure. As always, the stupid masses eat up whatever they can that will convenience themselves without ever considering a slight of hand from the ones prompting it.

[@59771006]

Has anyone else noticed that the song is sung to the tune of "Click Go the Shears"?

[@NFSAFilms]

+Douglas Roth Correct. For an interesting history of this tune take a look at this Wikipedia page. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_Go_the_Shears - Originally an American Civil War song. Litigious copyright lawyers not so prevalent back then maybe?

[@garrymorgan9182]

yes lol

[@freeman10000]

Absolutely!

[@Apis4]

They used the same tune when introducing roundabouts here too. "Coming to a roundabout, now's the time to slow, you'll be going round it, to where you want to go. Is anybody coming? Stop if you're in doubt! You must give way if they're already on the roundabout"....

[@leelinden4963]

Kind of hard NOT to notice that major-league earworm. We sang a version of it as London schoolkids, and half a century later I can still remember "In come the dollars, in come the cents..." and the magic date in 1966, while I can't recall one British decimalisation film or jingle from 1971. After I recently gave myself an unintentionally drastic "COVID lockdown haircut" with an electric beard trimmer and saw myself in a mirror, I had the original "Click go the shears" running through my head for 2 weeks straight!

[@seanzappulla71]

This is a fantastic old film. My parents talk about pre decimal currency and they found it very easy when Australia switched over and there from the Baby boomer generation and my grandmother talked about it and she also found it very easy as well and she was from the prewar generation. I still hear story's today about it from others from that generation.

[@edmerc92]

That second sentence. . . punctuation is your friend, man.

[@NeonBlade]

I was 8. My mother gave me the first Dollar bill I'd ever held, I went to the shop for her and bought 4 packs of cigarettes and some lollies for myself with the change The good old days.

[@joeydebus1329]

I can’t believe they let an 8 year old buy 4 packs of cigarettes hahaha

[@allieniner675]

My mum was almost 8 when the change over occurred. I found this video a while back to show her and she could recite the entire thing WORD FOR WORD off by heart! 😂

[@littlewobby755]

Hello NFSA: happy to hear the song. The words were written by Ted Roberts, who wrote episodes of Skippy, Homicide, Division 4, and heaps more up to Water Rats and Blue Heelers. He was paid £200. [Posted by Pat Woolley, Ted Roberts' wife].

[@NFSAFilms]

+Little Wobby Getting a lot of attention now with the anniversary. Paid in pounds!

[@Intel-i7-9700k]

What a true artist, very impressive work

[@Roxor128]

I had the song stuck in my head for three days last time I watched this video.

[@joeturner1597]

I remember this. They showed this at Primary school in England. First time I saw the TV used that stood in the corner of the hall.

[@bazhousecat]

Those poor housewives having to try and calculate that imperial currency haha

[@leelinden4963]

Those poor contemporary Americans, jeering at this Brit expat old enough to remember pounds, shillings and pence, and asking how "you people" ever got so @#$%ed-up as to use a system that doesn't do neat tens and hundreds and decimals? Oh, I say, you mean like METRIC as opposed to your BRITISH IMPERIAL ...and they suddenly change the subject Tee-hee...

[@pawpatrolnews]

Oh sure, bring our *freedom* units into this. Your just jealous that we're better then the rest of the world

[@AuChoco]

@@pawpatrolnews The foot is based on the British King's shoe size, the yard is based on his waist, and the acre is the amount of land a peasant can plough in a day. Your so called freedom units are a tribute to your overlords

[@pawpatrolnews]

@@AuChoco Ha ha, that old Brittish king must have been *fat*

[@AuChoco]

@@pawpatrolnews It was Henry VIII. Converted England to Protestantism to get a divorce, morbidly obese and died of gout so painful he turned Catholic in his death bed and clutching a rosary like it was the last thread of his life

[@NFSAFilms]

Sean Zappulla You're right even though the main character is called Dollar Bill! The message seems to mainly be one of recognising the differences in the coins, new and old, rather than the paper notes which would have been more obviously different. Not sure what films we have on notes from that era. Will have a look and post if possible.

[@TheBillABCTV]

+NFSA Films I also like how this video is in Colour.

[@NFSAFilms]

Yes that is true but the Film Unit was making colour films as far back as the 50s. Television was quite often not the intended platform for our films but in this case it was just broadcast in B&W. Probably some B&W prints made too.

[@IcanbePsycho]

50 years old today, HAPPY BIRTHDAY

[@kitelady7]

The tune is from "Click Go the Shears" - a traditional Australian folk song. No wonder many of us knew it back then.

[@yangj08]

Oh, is THIS why I never got any coins older than 1966 in my change when I visited Sydney a couple years ago? I'd always wondered about that, since back home in the US as well as in Canada I'd at least occasionally see coins from the 50s and older.

[@NFSAFilms]

For a while after change over you may have gotten older coins mixed in but not anymore.

[@johnd8892]

I was amazed last year to get a 1926 two shilling coin out of the supermarket self serve machine. A very rare event. Previous non decimal one maybe the late seventies. Partly old higher silver content coins being scooped up to be illegally melted down. Heard discussion of this in 1980.

[@suekennedy1595]

@@johnd8892 sliver sixpence are still sold as Christmas pudding coins as they don’t poison the pudding like new ones do.I mean people collect the old sixpences.

[@wonniewarrior]

The original 0.50 cent was round, but they found it could be confused with the 0.20 cents coin so added the 12 edges to the 0.50 cent to make it feel unique. It was however officially stated it was changed to 12 sides due to it face value becoming lower than it metal used value.

[@j-mshistorycorner6932]

The round 50c was minted in 1966, then none were minted in 67 or 68, then they began minting the current 12-sided 50c in 1969.

[@alfyryan6949]

A beautiful work of advertisement; charming, informative and clear

[@fenech97]

It's like they say, you would find everything on KZbin. We used to watch this ad on television way back on 14 th of February 1966, while living in beautiful Australia.

[@11carbuff19572011]

The original performer on the PIF was the late William Clauson, who was a renowned folk singer in his native Australia, the jingle was based on the folk tune Click Go The Shears, which appeared on an album by him made for EMI. We pretty much know the version by Rolf Harris, that dated originally from 1965 and was on his EMI album All Together Now.

[@LogoMan7777]

Was he Dollar Bill or Mr. Pound?

[@frpetermark]

I remember my Granny grumbling about 'losing tuppence'; i.e. 12 pennys to a bob (a shilling) versus 10 cents for a 10c piece. And as a kid I lost big-time, no more ha'penny bags of mixed lollies or even 3d for an icey-pole on my way home from school. They went up to 5c. It was a funny time then, even to a school kid like myself, the winds of change were palatable. Menzies left the "stage", & then it was All The Way with LBJ, conscription, war in South Vietnam & Yank GIs here on R&R, Holt drowns.

[@alexdhuna6576]

Ross Higgins (Ted Bullpitt) did Mr Pound + Kevin Golsby did Dollar Bill.

[@matthewburniston2822]

Pickle me grandmother i never picked up on it being Ted leave the money on the fridge lol

[@allanblack8990]

Yep and they recorded at Natec Sound Studios in Sydney. In the last song Kev is way out of sync, god bless him.

[@revinhatol]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZ2rfGWJetaBqtk

[@user-tt1sj2te9b]

I was fourteen then, it seems so silly now, but at seventy-one, I still remember the old stuff. I'll never forget it. I was 22 when the street signs changed and all had to watch the speed.

[@SuperSpaceGirlHDTV]

Best Valentine's Day Present Ever!

[@emmarose4234]

A few days ago I thought I’d try my hand at solving a math problem in a little 1966 pamphlet about Australia’s decimal currency (I’m American). Here it is: £29/16/10 1/2 x 89. Took me half the day to figure out. Who buys 89 of something that’s over 29 pounds? The Queen?!

[@WedgePee]

It's £2,656 1s 10 1/2d. Now you know why it needed to change.

[@emmarose4234]

WedgePee, I was almost right, except I forgot the halfpenny. 🤦‍♀️

[@kiwitrainguy]

The thing to do is to convert the original amount in to dollars, do the multiplication, then convert it back to Lsd.😉😊

[@Whiteshirtloosetie]

Here in the UK when we were going through decimalisation completed on 15 February 1971. Can remember the group Scaffold use to sing short memory public information songs like "Give more get change", "Use you old money in 6 penny lots" etc. I can still remember they use to show this Australian film and even now if someone were to ask what date was Decimal day in Australia, can't help but sing "On the 14th of February 1966". :)

[@suekennedy1595]

Yes why do we never get this question at the pub quiz

[@Ben-xe8ps]

I can't remember this old Australian film being shown in the UK and I would have thought that as the conversion values were different i.e. 1 shilling = 5p rather than 1 shilling = 10p/c as in Australia, and therefore the 2 shilling coin would have been worth 10p etc, showing it would have caused immense confusion. I was 10 when we changed.

[@robstermclean4467]

Fifty years ago today! Gees, I was there.

[@jennytmaher]

+Robster Godsafake I started my first job a week before this, so my first pay was in decimal currency. $16.00 for a forty hour week, or 40 cents per hour.

[@patgamz3082]

That Colored Version was Released in Australian Cinemas shown before Disney's horror animated feature "DRACULA" (1965) on February 10, 1966 before the Decimal Currency

[@wadjela]

I can't believe this is in colour, didn't come in till the 1980s. Thanks FilmAustralia, great to see your presence here.

[@peterpiper831]

Colour TV came to Australia just before the 1976 Olympics.

[@Thetuber83]

Happy 50 years AUD DC!

[@mishumydog]

Omg I always watch this at the museum!!

[@mishumydog]

I’m back haha

[@mishumydog]

Guess who’s back....

[@CornettoMcLovin]

@@mishumydog Please come back! We miss you!

[@cristianruiz7161]

You’re not back 😢

[@mishumydog]

@@CornettoMcLovin im back :)

[@robbo5life]

Dollar bill looks like Kevin Rudd LOL!

[@davidvile239]

Jeez that's a low blow for Dollar Bill comparing him to that muppet!

[@Tone.E.RockON]

@@davidvile239 Kevin Rudd reminds me more of a SouthPark character.

[@sebastianthomson87]

I believe $Bill looks like Bill Shorten in an animation.

[@freeman10000]

Kevin Rudd looks like Mr Sheen.

[@xr6lad]

Well given the years has passed since the original comment, Morrison must be a nightmare on Elm St. Given the last few months, he resembles Nero; handing out grants to mates while Rome (the.country) burns even going on holiday during a national emergency.

[@davidabulafia7145]

In 1965 I was in grade 2, and remember Mr Dollar being talk about a lot by our teacher. In 1966 when I was in year 3, and we started doing money arithmetic, and remember our teacher say it by how lucky we are compared to student last year because decimal money arithmetic was now very much easier than last year.

[@pistolchicken8483]

It looks so strange to me seeing a round 50c coin for someone who didn't grow up during that time... cute commercial though, I kinda wish we still had ones like it

[@chopperv1313]

Does it feel weird seeing the 50c coin as a 12-sided dodecagon instead of being round, like every other Australian coin?

[@johnd8892]

@@chopperv1313 as I am reading these comments now a discussion on the radio stated the change was to assist the blind to not confuse the 20 cent and 50 cent. What are the odds of that coincidence?

[@gemfyre855]

They're worth a bit these days. My mum has a couple of coin bags full of them, and just a few weeks ago a customer gave us one at work! I swapped it out for a modern 50c piece and kept the round one. :D

[@RaveDave871]

The round 50c had third of ounce silver. But silver price shot up and so replaced by the silverless 12 sided.

[@guse7688]

the best song in any museum

[@12121149]

I remember the conversion.Was only a matter of weeks before I worked it out,so easy.

[@revinhatol]

(2:04, for those curious of correcting the mistakes) L: 49/4/7 R: 85/15/2.5

[@benmacree3215]

As a junior Pom I saw this advert on a BBC children's TV programme called Blue Peter. It was so popular that it was repeated. The UK went decimal exactly 5 years after but they wanted to keep the £ but they should have gone for cents rather than pence as there was dreadful confusion, although eventually people adapted to it. There was a stage when the UK may have opted for the Euro but that has passed. Malta kept using £sd until.1973 but they wisely opted for a £ of 100 cents.

[@LilNukeyOfficial100]

My Grandma and Grandpa has to learn, and listen to this when they were kids in school.

[@suekennedy1595]

That makes me feel old.

[@sebastianthomson87]

"Money can't buy you love, but love can save you money".

[@tranmanhuc6235]

In Vietnam, somehow the opposite is correct...

[@allaboutstupid2228]

Yes it can, 2 dollar fuky fuky.

[@phrenzy1]

I always wondered why we didn't go to a decimal or "new" pound like the Brits did

[@PlatformONE]

+phrenzy1 Most likely because "pound" & "new pound" would have been very confusing.

[@phrenzy1]

+platformone the British did exactly this with no problem what so ever. I suppose this is the era of everything American was good and we wanted to be in line with them. This was Australia being their only 'nam ally after all.

[@DeGuerre]

+phrenzy1 Australia has always been an interesting mix of the UK and the US. For example, we have a Westminster-style Parliament, but we deliberately decided to use the American names (House of Representatives and Senate).

[@TheBespectacledN00b]

+phrenzy1 The value of the pound stayed the same, what with being an international reserve currency, it was the penny that changed value. You guys by the looks of this kept the cent the same and went the other way.

[@jgroenveld1268]

Australia and later New Zealand converted over and there was a concern about the confusion it would caused. The British and the Irish observed the conversion and realised the conversion was successful enough that they could retain the pound but divide the pound by 100 pennies.

[@mimikyoo]

3:05 sneaking in a killroy reference. truely an ageless meme

[@shoco462]

nice catch!

[@johnd8892]

Foo widespread in Australia. Kilroy very rare

[@johnussss]

I remember the song word for word, was 6 in that year, this is colour yet TV wasn't colour till 74

[@johnd8892]

Colour version made for showing in picture theatres with the ads before the main features.

[@darebinroad]

It was also shown in movie theatres.

[@kiwitrainguy]

That's why it's in colour.

[@suryakhanna4699]

What added to the transition complexity for Australia relative to other countries that underwent decimalization, and which perhaps further justified the relatively unique 2 year decimalization transition period in Australia where both LSD and Dollars/Cents were in circulation/trading as legal tender, was the fact that Australia effectively devalued its currency by pegging its dollar to half the value of its pound (2 $AUD = 1 Pound AUD). I am very surprised that this video did not mention that major piece of the transition, not even with a simple mention of 1 pound = 2$. They could have just had the $ character split into two or be two separate characters from the beginning like twins or something. There were plenty of cutesy, memorable, and easy ways to mention the 1 pound = 2 dollar fact, so I have no idea why they didn't just include one in a thematically consistent way.

[@iamthinking2252_]

Eh, but 10 shilling to a dollar, 5 shilling to 50 cents etc seems fairly easy as it is

[@kyyah2]

@@Sonofalewis shilling - no c

[@anthonycotter1493]

Making a switch to base 10 from the old system is just much easier when you consider that you can divide the new base unit of currency into 10 shillings easily for a conversion it's based on the successful conversion from the south african pound to the Rand which happened earlier. All those things you just said ('they could do x, y, or z) are more complicated that what was done Devaluing the Australian dollar (when the Australia's currency was effectively pegged/linked to other major currencies and wasn't floated like it is now) was not a big deal, unlike in Great Britain where the British pound was a global reserve currency and any attempts to mess with the pound ran the risk of having negative effects on global commerce and the british economy

[@jaitheminecraftgamer5046]

Seriously, let’s appreciate his pound trumpet changed into his dollar trumpet due to changeover

[@kommentkid9482]

The song is catchy... I cant get it out of my head

[@thedave7760]

Komment Kid The melody is from "click go the shears boys"

[@Daniel-cc4sy]

ikr

[@jennytmaher]

That was the idea. Easy to remember, and easy to convert to the new money. I started my first job right at changeover time, so that my first pay was in decimal. $32 for two weeks with NSW Railways. 40 cents per hour.

[@funkkyno8058]

In come the dollars in come the cents, be prepared folks when the coins begin to mix on the 14th of February 1966

[@tranmanhuc6235]

Me neither :))

[@chrisskinner4369]

Has anyone notice that the change to decimal Currency happened on valentines day (Exactly 54 Years a go today) ? A coincidence i think not ;-) ;-) ;-)

[@Svetlanka83]

Same with the UK in 1971 we were told it was because that was the quietest times for the banks . Ireland did the same in 1971 and New Zealand in 1967 .

[@martin2handy]

scary, I remember singing this... then I went to UK and all happened again there in 1970... their song wasn't as good...

[@RabidLeroy]

Uncannily, we will be facing the 50th anniversary of the Dollar currency in three years time. Excellent showcase. :)

[@user-tt1sj2te9b]

It's getting on for sixty years now since the good ol' dollar showed it's face. Are you still around?

[@j-mshistorycorner6932]

We're just over two years from 60 years of decimal currency now.

[@Ashbury2193]

@derfuhrer881 No. The cartoon character was called Dollar Bill but the currency notes are still called notes. The name "Dollar Bill" was a play on the US usage of the word, of course.

[@revinhatol]

2:01 - On when? The Tenth of July, that year!

[@Tubewings]

I just did the calculation for the values at 2:04; and the first page totaled £52.4s.7d., and the second page (taking the new correct total into account) brought the grand total to £85.16s.0½d. I am SO glad that I didn't have to live through the £sd. Decimalisation is SO much easier. Oh, BTW, those values in dollars and cents are... First page... $11.19 $14.33 $1.40 $36.10 $28.00 $12.34 $0.46 Total--$103.82 Second page $103.82 (corrected total) $22.21 $6.94 $26.86 $11.10 Total--$170.93

[@jpmasters-aus]

I was 3 1/2 years old at this time, so I reallly don’t remember it, but I do recall the old coins hanging around for a while.

[@BryanLikesCandy]

@jazzx251 The 'd' stands for 'dinari', which was the standard Roman unit in the Roman Empire. The British Pound System, as well as other European currencies, were based on the Roman system. Just goes to show just how widespread the Roman influence travels.

[@claudiadubious3722]

This song has been in my head since I was 5 years old and I first visited the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. My cousins and I have been torturing our parents with constantly humming it ever since

[@000Responses]

In come the dollars, in come the cents, To replace the pounds and the shillings and the pence, Be prepared folks when the coins begin to mix, On the 14th February 1966! Clink go the cents, folks, clink, clink, clink, Changeover day is closer than you think, Learn the values of the coins and the way that they appear, And things will be much smoother when the decimal point is here!

[@Roxor128]

I bet the song had a lot to do with the success of the transition.

[@ApfelFlix]

Wonderful! This video will be another “piece” in my LSD currency collection. Why haven’t I found it earlier?

[@NushrinaTeelhawod]

Thank you Gregmat

[@kienhwengtai8113]

Dollar Bill is now unemployed ... replaced with Dollar Coin in 1984.

[@MrGoblin60]

Boy am I glad I was too young to have had to add up pounds, shillings and pence! I only knew the value of pennys and hapennys.

[@revinhatol]

B&W: kzbin.info/www/bejne/faXcf3-tptGdsKs

[@WavingMovie]

Thanks R4

[@bigsiman]

They left out the thorny problem of halfpennies, pennies and threepences, which didn't have a conversion to an integral number of cents. Merchants made a modest profit by rounding up. Good ad though. And I still like the old coins.

[@26TptCoy]

Dollar Bill was promoted on matchboxes also. Almost everyone smoked in that time.

[@bearchan3181]

The song make me come for more.

[@buckets219]

this song is fire🔥

[@chrisholland1862]

Yes I remember these ads to the tune of click go the shears . I started school that year 1966 and most of the copper coins such as the large penny and slightly smaller halfpenny and the tiny silver threepence of the old currency were gone and a lot of the other silver coins remained as they were of a similar size to the new cupro nickel coins a sixpence was accepted as equivalent to a five cent piece a shilling was equivalent to a ten cent piece and a florin was equivalent to a twenty cent piece and these were still used for few years in circulation the new silver fifty cent coin issued in 1966 its silver value was worth more than its money value and were withdrawn and replaced in 1969 by the dodecagonal shaped cupro nickel one. I also started to learn units of imperial measurement only to change to the metric system the next major unit of ten system a few years later. These were the days when if you had a dollar or two you were rich as a kid because you could buy a lot food and drink for under $1 such as few pies and few bottles of soft drink at a delicatessen.

[@allaboutstupid2228]

The last country to go decimal was Nigeria in 1973.

[@irishgodfatherchris]

it was actually altered so that blind people could discern the difference because as you know and have probably observed a blind person when dealing with coins will run their fingers along the edges of the coin so that they can work out themselves the denomination

[@carpau0]

I saw this video at the museum of currency in Sydney (part of the reserve bank building) last year and it was on a timer and played every few minutes or so...crapped myself when this film started up cause I didn't see the screen it was playing on (other side of the exhibit)...and it sounds really odd without seeing the accompanying film...God bless the 60's!! I'm really glad that Australia went to decimal...looks way easier!!

[@suekennedy1595]

You must feel for the museum staff.

[@MeFrom07]

Nice to see the colour version of this commercial.

[@NFSAFilms]

No the film hasn't been altered maybe they thought it was unnecessary or maybe they could see the writing on the wall for the little possum and frilled-neck lizard.

[@Ken69a]

@fanofsongs Yes. We had the round coin up until 1969, and then the 12 sided coin replaced it. You can still find the round coin time to time. It was thought the round coin was to much the same as the 20 cent coin. Making it hard for people (more so visionally impaired) to tell the difference.

[@anonUK]

The various provinces of Canada had their own dollars in the 1860s, but in the period 1867-1872 the various Canadian dollars were merged into 1 dollar, pegged to the US dollar, but deliberately kept separate from it, to maintain some sense of independence. Westminster's battle to keep the CA$ tied to the pound, even though Canada was still regarded as a British Dominion at that time, lost out to the fact that most Canadian trade was of necessity north-south rather than trans-Atlantic.

[@tarocalypse]

Clever to avoid mention of the 1c and 2c pieces. At that end of the scale people would be feeling “devalued” and that prices had increased. Naturally no mention of old “half-penny”.

[@repentorperish1405]

And the farthing (¼ penny), I still remember them. Yes, I'm getting on!

[@TheSpiritingPoet]

Dollar Bill just barged in and interrupted the pound guy, what a bellend.

[@kitquestcake3470]

Anyone else from Australia? Just me?

[@youraveragebinchicken6807]

That’s really really catchy

[@revinhatol]

An echidna is a spiny ant-eater! just look in Wikipedia in the page "Echidna"!

[@Aqene1000]

So Charming !

[@anonUK]

d= denarii. Librae, solidi, denarii was the full name of £sd, the currency system before 1966 in Australia and 1971 in the UK and Ireland (1972 in Malta and 1973 in Nigeria). An Australian pound was 18 shillings UK, that is 90p. An Australian dollar was therefore worth 45p/ 9s when it started, as opposed to 64p now. I think the AUS$ was back at 45p in 2008, but the pound has slid in value markedly during this recession.

[@ilox11]

That was such a big move but so necessary to get rid of the LSD abomination currency. I was in Second Year High when we had that change. All those years of Primary trying to cope with not just Poinds, shillings and pence but a Guinea (21 shillings), sixpence, threepence, halfpenny and yes, I can even recall saving up and buying lollies with farthings (4 to a penny). With the Imperial measure system in place working put Math problems was a nightmare. Inches, feet, yards, furlongs, fathoms, miles. And then ounces, gills, cups and pints and arrrgghhh, it hurts to think of the mental conturbations trying to sort out all these disparate units. Metrication was truly a godsend for Australia.

[@adamthompson8678]

Changed on Valentines Day.......what a nightmare for florists! 😂

[@Your.Uncle.AngMoh]

Happy 45th Birthday to the little Aussie dollar!

[@Pinkandpurplearemefaves]

this is stuck in my head.

[@Languslangus]

Fascinating

[@Karl0010]

I was around then and remember seeing that ad on TV, although not in colour.

[@repentorperish1405]

I saw it in colour at the pictures (excuse me, the 'Cinema' - old Aussie lingo habits die hard)

[@ajp2223]

@Aussiesunset, you posted this two years ago... "We switched over to powers of ten because it's simpler to work with. Because a large number of Australians at the time were just too stupid/bogan to be able to figure out Pound/Shilling/Pence. I myself was only born in '94 so I never learned P/S/P anyway." It wasn't that a a large number of Australians at the time were just too stupid/bogan to be able to figure out Pound/Shilling/Pence... it was in fact the other way around, many people from other parts of the world couldn't easily figure out, Pounds, Shillings and Pence.

[@BoredGingo]

@fanofsongs if i remember right, round 50c coins were only around in 1966

[@repentorperish1405]

That's it. 1966 only. They initially minted heaps of them and kept putting them into circulation for some years after that, BUT A massive rise in the value of silver put their silver bullion weight value (which was a massive 80% silver content) above their 50c face value - which situation had become a 'bit silly'. But why they replaced it with the later twelve sided nickel and copper monstrosity rather than another round 50c coin of nickel and copper content God only knows. I would've liked to have seen it kept as a round coin, albeit with the metal alloy being the same as the 5c, 10c, and 20c.

[@Tubewings]

1:58; At the time, Papua New Guinea (then known as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea) was a part of Australia. It became an independent nation in 1975.

[@afropenguin]

from the look of it their saying PNG will change at the same time, but rember at the time PNG wasn't whole heartedly austrlaian but only an Australian colony which was going to be decolonised eventually.

[@cmdrstabbenslash]

I have an entire predecimal coin and note proof set :)

[@kauemoura]

Those coins look beautiful.