It's more than enough to make you weep ...

[GeoffW]

Actually, not ten times. One pound Sterling bought you about three Australian pounds. So a tad over a three times increase. Still quite extravagant of you.

I'm sorry Chris. This figure was completely wrong.

I did a fair bit of googling, but couldn't find an answer as the search terms returned broad range of responses, not many of them to do with what I was looking for. So I tried chatgpt, and it gave me the answer I gave. I tried the same question today, and it told me the exchange rate wS 4.7.

So your uncle's remittance was a more accurate indicator of the exchange rate than anything I can find. I apologise. Or, if I was in the US, I would apologize.

[ChrisGreaves]

So your uncle's remittance was a more accurate indicator of the exchange rate than anything I can find. I apologise. Or, if I was in the US, I would apologize.

And if you were in Bonavista ...?

I was partway through finding out whether I'd have to uninter Uncle Richard (d 1998) in order to establish a claim on his executors to be reimbursed for about fifteen postal orders, so thanks, Graeme; you have saved me a great deal of extra work.
Cheers, Chris

[GeoffW]

so thanks, Graeme; you have saved me a great deal of extra work.

Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Though my wife is now wondering why my name has been changed. It's caused all sorts of problems. Not to mention my sudden purchase of telescope, astronomical camera, and lots of software.

[ChrisGreaves]

... Not to mention my sudden purchase of telescope, astronomical camera, and lots of software.

Mea Culpa!
But also: so you have been getting 10x all along!
Cheers, Richard

[Graeme]

so thanks, Graeme; you have saved me a great deal of extra work.

Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Though my wife is now wondering why my name has been changed. It's caused all sorts of problems. Not to mention my sudden purchase of telescope, astronomical camera, and lots of software.

Don't worry about the software, most of it is free!

Regards

Geoff

[BobH]

Having fretted over it since my last post, here is my attempt to equate my 1950's US quarter allowance to OMG's thruppence. If my memory is correct and the US dollar exchanged for the GB pound at the rate of 5 to 1, then my quarter USD was 1/20th of a GBP. (1/4 x 1/5 = 1/20, no?)

My search next took me to find how many GB pennies were in a GB pound. According to the page I found searching the 'Net, there were 240 pennies to the pound (prior to decimalization) ; therefore my US quarter dollar was equivalent to 12 GB pennies. (1/20 x 240 = 12, no?). I was thus spending at about 4 times the rate of OMG, and getting a great bargain into the deal.

Please correct me if any of the above is in error.

[RonH]

Pounds, shillings and pence ... 1- 20 - 12. How did we ever cope with money calculation

[HansV]

Now let's see if I get this right.
You can kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
1 stone = 14 pounds.
1 pound = 240 pennies.
So 1 bird can be killed with 1680 pennies.
That's my 2p...

[ChrisGreaves]

Pounds, shillings and pence ... 1- 20 - 12. How did we ever cope with money calculation

We had brains, back then. And used them
At 10, 11 and 12 years old we were calculating (using paper and pencil, yet!) "profit and loss percentages" for land sold by rods? roods? perches? and furlongs in pounds, shillings and pence. primary school stuff.

For a video on an alternative base system see this video on You Tube around the 3m54s mark.
Once you get through that, try calculating in a "base negative 4" system.

In 2009 I was building sales tools for a Toronto firm who panicked when they met Indian currency.
Piece of cake!

Cheers, Chris.

[ChrisGreaves]

Please correct me if any of the above is in error.

Far be it from me to correct anyone,
But,
The arithmetic conversion is valid mathematically, but very rarely accurate in the Real World.

As a simple example, the price of iced-cream in Bonavista is higher (in dollars & cents) than it is in St John's. Or Toronto.
Likewise the price of iced-cream in Dallas is almost certainly higher in Hyder AK.

Comparing post-war Lancashire ice-cream prices with Perth prices, let alone prices in Southern Cross(inland) is dangerous.

I suspect that my parents asked around about what parents were giving their 10-year olds for 'spends", and then halving it!⁽¹⁾
Cheers, Chris
⁽¹⁾ "If we gave him five bob "spends" he'd only spend it ..."C

[ChrisGreaves]

That's my 2p...

The only place left in Australia that cares about 2d is the two-up school in Broken Hill NSW, where they toss two pennies into the air from a kip.
Which is, i suppose, one half of a kipper.
Cheers, Chris

[GeoffW]

A kip might have more meanings than half a kipper.
https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kip1.htm

The first definition of the word in that link is one I'm familiar with. The definition which follows is an older but less savoury version.

[ChrisGreaves]

The first definition of the word in that link is one I'm familiar with. The definition which follows is an older but less savoury version.

Right. But when ***I*** say I'm going to be kipling for a half an hour it means I'll be in bed with a good book!

20240321_181742.jpg

Cheers, Chris

[GeoffW]

No, that's kipling, which is the present participle of kipple, not of kip. You might be kipping for half an hour. kipple is quite different.

"Kipple is useless objects, like junk mail or match folders after you use the last match or gum wrappers or yesterday's homeopape. When nobody's around, kipple reproduces itself... the entire universe is moving towards a final state of total, absolute kippleization.”

I don't know if this describes your house.

[ChrisGreaves]

I don't know if this describes your house.

Purfickly!

Diary_20240311_164253.jpg

My new sign arrived last week, four feet by three feet, much better than the tatty piece of plywood I found in the shed loft five years ago.
Great relief! He got the name right.
Too many people take one look at my yard and start calling it "The Landfill Garden House".

Bit of a disappointment over the Kip. All these years I've been thinking that I'm Kipling.
I shall write shorter posts in the future.
Cheers, Chris

[Graeme]

therefore my US quarter dollar was equivalent to 12 GB pennies.

A Shilling then.

My Grandad used to give us a Shilling when we went to visit when I was a kid. When we got older it went up to a Florin then Half a Crown!

Graeme

[ChrisGreaves]

.... When we got older it went up to a Florin then Half a Crown!

Your poor old Grandad.
No matter how much he paid you to stay away ...
Cheers, Chris

[Graeme]

rods? roods? perches? and furlongs[/url] in pounds, shillings and pence. primary school stuff.

The UK railway system is measured in Miles and Chains. There are 80 Chains in a Mile and 10 Chains in a Furlong. An Acre is a Chain times a Furlong or 10 square Chains.

Funny what you remember and what you forget!

There's 4 Rods in a Chain but I just looked that one up!

Graeme

[John Gray]

Pounds, shillings and pence ... 1- 20 - 12. How did we ever cope with money calculation

Well, Ron, the IBM mainframe language PL/I had (part of) a compiler specially written for the UK market, which handled pounds, shillings and pence extremely well. IBM clearly had put a lot of effort and expense into getting it right, from a country to whom such units were entirely alien. (Actually, most of the work was done at IBM Hursley, in Hampshire, England!) They must have been pretty miffed when UK decimalisation took place in February 1971, rendering this section of the compiler completely redundant...

Here's an article about UK decimalisation of the Currency; there is also a lot on Wikipedia.

(At Decimalisation Day, there were breathless accounts of how various firms' computer systems were converted from £sd to £p, which was done by rounding so that the absolute difference between the total amounts in £sd and £p on their computer system was very small indeed. )

[RonH]

Good morning, John.
I also well remember the farthing being valuable dosh ... a former British bronze coin, worth a quarter of an old penny, that ceased to be legal tender in 1961.
So many coins to enjoy back in 'the good old days'.