Currency/Finance

Decimal Currency

Australia – On 14th February 1966 Australia converted from Pounds Shillings and Pence to Dollars and Cents. One Pound became two Dollars, ten Shillings became one Dollar and five Shillings became fifty cents.

I was working for National Mutual in Sydney at the time and apart from a handful of Annuitants collecting their Monthly payment and being slightly confused with the conversion, the whole event seemed to me to be implemented with minimal fuss.

UK – On 15th February 1971 the U.K. converted from Pounds Shillings and Pence to Pounds and Pence. One Pound remained as one Pound and Ten Shillings became 50 Pence.

I was working for National Mutual in London at the time and felt the conversion was not all that smooth. Fellow workers reported buying lunch and coming away with a profit. Some shopkeepers appeared to be confused with the conversions.

Traveller's Cheques

For most of my travels, Traveller's Cheques were an essential way of carrying money, especially overseas. Banks and organisations like American Express issued these cheques in various currencies, most common for me being US Dollars and Pounds Sterling. These cheques could then be exchanged for local currencies by banks, shops etc.

I doubt whether Traveller's Cheques still exist these days with the introduction of more convenient forms of currency exchange and payment.

Life Assurance

Over the years I had several Life Assurance Policies, ‘Whole of Life’ and ‘Endowment’. They were very useful at times because I was able to borrow up to 90% of the Surrender Value. The ‘Endowment' Policies matured at selected ages and except for one of the ‘Whole of Life’ Policies they were converted to ‘Endowment’ to mature after 5 years.

I still retain one ‘Whole of Life’ policy, which my parents commenced when I was eleven years old and then presented to me on my 21st Birthday. It will be paid out when I am 95 years of age or on my death. The value more than covers the cost of my demise.

Currency Note Collection

I have collected and retain a note from most countries visited.

The collection hit a problem in 1970 when I was in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda. Riding on top of the Land Rover whilst Game viewing my wallet slipped from my pocket and landed on the ground. Luckily a fellow travelled alerted me to the situation and I recovered the said wallet and promptly and stupidly put it back in my back pocket. Needless to say, it slipped from the pocket again and nobody saw it. Luckily there were not too many notes lost.

I would love to display each of the Bank Notes under my 'Collections' page. However, and understandably, 'The Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group' (CBCDG) have rules and regulations on what can be displayed, so I will hold off showing the notes until I better understand what can and cannot be displayed electronically.

Australian Coins - Pre Decimal Currency

One Penny Half Penny Three Pence One Shilling (=12 Pence) Two Shillings (A Florin)

Missing from the collection is my 1947 SixPence and 1947 One Shilling. I'm not sure where they are.

Other coins existed such as the farthing (one quarter penny) which was not around when I was old enough to save and spend.

The Crown (five shillings) I never encountered.

Not a coin in Australia, to my knowledge, was a 'Guinea' = 21 shillings. However, I remember it was a common way to display the cost of something in 'Guineas'.