The Pound Coin

[DaveH]

Hi

I have noticed that to give a size comparison in the photo a Pound coin is used.

Now I have no idea how big a pound coin is. 

So if you all could send me one (or half a dozen)  I’m sure it would help.

 
DaveH

[Pete.]

About 60mm diameter and 10mm thick. They did it to stop people raiding telephone coin boxes and parking meters. Shame they forgot we all have mobile phones now.

There was some talk a while back of re-naming the pound to the 'daily'. They gave up on that idea when they realised that the 50p would become the 'Arfur Daley' (you gotta be British to understand that one)

[andyf]

Those must be export versions, Pete. Send them to Dave. As you know, here in the UK they wouldn't be acceptable; all of ours are issued pre-shrunk so the rain doesn't affect them.

Mine are 22.5mm, or just over 7/8 inch.

Andy

[arnoldb]

  Dave  - are you trying to pull a fast one ?  - I happened to check what the exchange rate is today 

 , Arnold

[DaveH]

Arnold

Shhhhhh 

we'll go half's 

 
DaveH

[Pete.]

Those must be export versions, Pete. Send them to Dave. As you know, here in the UK they wouldn't be acceptable; all of ours are issued pre-shrunk so the rain doesn't affect them.

You must have got yours before the VAT increase

[Fergus OMore]

Not pre-shrunk! The UK Government gets 40% back-- after the EEC gets its whack.

Just a thought- after 20% V-ery A-wful T-ax.

To coin a phrase- in some circles as the Square Root of B***** All

[PTsideshow]

I was going to say 16 ounces, but then I remembered our fore thinking unindited co-conspirators in Washington DC
Brought out the new Indian maiden gold dollars 25.9mm which is 1.9mm larger than out quarter dollars which are24mm.
Now our dollar coins at one time were 37.5mm and a slot machine favorite!
The presidential dollars are also 25.9mm.

Which none of the new one dollars coins can they get into popular use because coin vending equipment is set up for paper dollars, and doesn't want them!
The gold dollars when the first came out have a alloy that corrodes even when they are in the rolls, and reacts so fast with sweat they had to adjust the alloy.

They have something like 40 billion of the dollar coins in storage, cost the tax payer a billion or so a year! 
Got to love the people they hire as consultants     

[DMIOM]

slightly OT on pound notes

Here on the Isle of Man, as well as pound coins, we still have pound notes.

For about five years in the 1980s we actually had plastic pound notes.

They were remarkably robust, would stand the washing machine, and only shrink slightly in the oven.  They did show slight degradation in use, as the ink wore off; but by and large they were great.  However,  they didn't catch on worldwide quick enough.

The problem came when the govt. need to buy some more - the printers (De La Rue?) couldn't obtain the particular type of Tyvek made for this purpose.  Because the notes were lasting longer than rag-paper ones, the orders for renewal weren't coming in, and the manufacturers abandoned making that type of Tyvek - so in fact their long life was their own un-doing! 

Dave

[andyf]

Here on the Isle of Man, as well as pound coins, we still have pound notes.

For about five years in the 1980s we actually had plastic pound notes.

They were remarkably robust, would stand the washing machine....,

                                                                                                               
So there was some money-laundering done on the Isle of Man

But paper UK notes, which I have occasionally forgotten to remove from a shirt pocket, wash very well, and look like new once ironed.

Andy

[raynerd]

which I have occasionally forgotten to remove from a shirt pocket, wash very well, and look like new once ironed.

Andy

  as do ipod touches if you`r lucky....without the ironing needed.

[trevoratxtal]

What size is a pound one asked!
Well it started about 100 X 50 mm X thin (.05mm ish)
It got smaller and smaller by size and changed material to brass, now it is a little washer before the hole is punched, the two pound one is a washer with a plug in the middle to fill the hole.
As inflation continues the hole will fall out.
In fact it is now over a pound to purchase a penny washer, and we had 320 in the old pound, I think.
 
The value is so small (when I was a boy I could purchase 20 pints of beer for one pound) but always had change from a pound as I fell over around the tenth pint.
Now one pound does not even get one a half pint of lemonade without the lemon.
I would post pictures of the pound to compare sizes but I cannot find one even though I put 20 in my pocket!
 
Ps I have evidence to show that my Grandfather purchased a house for just ten of them, but they wassss Biggg then. pounds that is!
Happy New Year to all you good folk
Trev

[modeng200023]

240 to the £1

John

[Fergus OMore]

240 to the £1

John

Indeed it was 240 old pence to the pound before the British currency became 'dismal' or decimal( or both) and 100 new pence replaced it all.

It was 12 old pence to the shilling and 20 shillings to make one pound.

Cheers up, I work in Euros as well. Spain changed from the peseta to the Euro but still quotes peseta prices in their supermarkets.

Somehow they don't trust the Euro to last.
We sort of belong to the European community- le  Marche Commun et la bas but don't. It was all sort of going to be wonderful and we Brits were going to be able to cross and recross Europe and Britain without barriers-- and all that Jazz. Money was supposed to flow without the percentages for exchange between French francs to Belgian francs and so on. Fine, if you have a 'Horse's collar' of Euros, you can buy in most shops etc  but you cannot write a cheque/check drawn on a (say) French bank and use it( say) in a Spanish country.

If anyone is baffled by all this- I'm not surprised.

[Ned Ludd]

On the subject of laundering money, Bank of England notes (note, England not Britain)  iron very well because they are not paper but Linen. With the way money is going it will soon be cheaper to make a shirt from sewn together bank notes than material.
Thinking of value, I saw a ten bob note for sale in a collectors shop for £15, talk about inflation.
Ned
PS for you foreigners out there who don't understand what proper money is/was, ten bob was ten shillings or half a Pound.

[AdeV]

PS for you foreigners out there who don't understand what proper money is/was, ten bob was ten shillings or half a Pound.

Hence the expression "as bent as a 9 bob note", which I use occasionally even though decimalisation predates me by about 18 months...

[Fergus OMore]

And the ink is still wet? Of course it is- it is actually non drying ink.

Get a newish note and a bit where there is plenty of printing and  put a really heavy pressure on with your thumb and rotate it onto a piece a clean white paper.

[AdeV]

And the ink is still wet? Of course it is- it is actually non drying ink.

Get a newish note and a bit where there is plenty of printing and  put a really heavy pressure on with your thumb and rotate it onto a piece a clean white paper.

IIRC the £20 note - and certainly the £50 note - have a security device on them where you rub part of the note on a piece of paper - the genuine article will lose some ink to the paper.

[Fergus OMore]

All the denominations will mark paper

Trust me!

[Ned Ludd]

Can some kind soul remind me what a £50 note looks like, it's been soo long since I last saw one.
Ned

[andyf]

If you really don't know, Ned, send me ten fivers and I'll post one to you. They are yellow, same shade as this yellow paper I have for my laser printer, have no security strip or hologram, and are printed on one side only in Times New Roman.

Andy

[Ned Ludd]

Hi Andy,
Will you take a cheque, instead? Better yet write yourself one and sign it "The Government of UK", after all with what they propose to waste  on the new rail link they wont miss it, if you want you can add a few 0's on the end for good measure.
Ned

[BiggerHammer]

If you really don't know, Ned, send me ten fivers and I'll post one to you. They are yellow, same shade as this yellow paper I have for my laser printer, have no security strip or hologram, and are printed on one side only in Times New Roman.

Andy

Don't do it man! It is a rip off. He says it's only going to be printed on ONE side, therefore you you should only send him FIVE five pound notes. Shame on you andy. 


Sean

[Scuba1]

But you do know the weight of that coin...its printed on it so do the math 

Michael