# UK/Commonwealth New Money **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041 "2020-02-16T21:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/41 "2020-02-21T16:44:16Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > The new polymer notes are expected to last for between five and ten years. As well as that, the general use of coins and notes is rapidly declining, so there may well be no need to print new ones for some years to come. It’s possible that notes with King Charles’s (or whatever he decides to call himself) picture on, will soon become collector’s items. True that. From day to day I hardly ever use cash these days. A lot of the time I don’t even bother taking my wallet with me to work, because I know that any expense I am likely to incur, I can pay using my phone. In the event that I did need cash I could obtain it from an ATM using an emergency cash code from my banking app, but 95% of the time, my phone and maybe a debit card will cover me. Other countries have ditched cash to an even greater degree. When I spent a week in Iceland last year there wasn’t a single occasion when I needed to use cash. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/42 "2020-02-22T15:31:57Z")
Canada: George VI died in February 1952. Coins continued to be minted throughout 1952 with George VI on them. Elizabeth II started appearing in 1953. Edward VII died in 1910 - coins with his image continued to be minted in 1910. George V died in early 1936 - coins with his image continued to be minted throughout 1936. New dies weren’t ready for the George VI coins of 1937 (after Edward VIII abdicated late in the year) - I assume dies were ready for Edward VIII. The 1c, 10c, and 25c coins minted early in 1937 had a small dot next to the date - using the 1936 dies. These were either poor dies, or else the dots wore off quickly, since all three coins are reasonably rare. > **[New Acquisitions](https://www.bankofcanadamuseum.ca/2018/04/new-acquisitions-9/)** > > To distinguish the new production from that of 1936, a small impression was added to the reverse dies, creating a raised dot on coins struck from those tools. Canadian coins have always had the Sovereign’s name in Latin (with “Rex” or “Regina” - indicating “King” or “Queen”), and “Dei Gratia”, or “D.G.” (by the grace of God). Prior to 1948, they also had “Et Ind:Imp” (abbreviation for “and Emperor of India”). Do/did other Empire/Commonwealth countries do the same? ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/43 "2020-02-22T15:39:22Z")
Broadly yes, with some slight variations. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/44 "2020-02-23T08:56:18Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > When I was at school in the 1980s, and 5p would still buy you a bag of cheesy puffs or a bar of toffee, I remember using the shilling coins with George VI on, and occasionally even George V. Those were pretty rare as they (along with the older George VI coins) were 50% silver and I think even then were worth more than their face value. How often did this happen? I usually checked the date on shillings and florins in my change in the 80s and early 90s, and I never ever saw a George V one, or a pre 1948 George VI one. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/45 "2020-02-23T09:13:28Z")
> [@bump](#): > > t coins with Elizabeth’s head could be in circulation for decades, as there’s been 68 years of coins struck with her head on them thus far. Think about here in the US how you occasionally run across Bicentennial quarters in circulation some 44 years later? It would be like that, except more so. To nitpick though, nearly all the coins from the first 30 years of her reign have been withdrawn - there may be a few bronze “one new penny” and “two new pennies” coins from the 70s around but I think the policy has been to withdraw them. The 20p coin, which seemed amazingly innovative when it first came out in 1982, is often the oldest coin you’ll have. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/46 "2020-02-23T09:26:00Z")
‘In the UK’, I should have said in the above post. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/47 "2020-02-23T17:16:32Z")
The size and weight of all the silver coins has changed (reduced) in recent years and that has necessitated withdrawing all shillings and two shilling pieces. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/48 "2020-02-23T17:39:28Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > The size and weight of all the silver coins has changed (reduced) in recent years and that has necessitated withdrawing all shillings and two shilling pieces. Who are you responding to? All the UK contributers in this thread know that. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2020, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/49 "2020-02-24T00:30:09Z")
I think the point is that the change in coin designs has accelerated the withdrawal from circulation of older coins. But that’s a one-off; unless coin designs are changed again Eliz II coins of the current design may circulate in significant numbers for decades into the reign(s) of her successor(s). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2020, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/50 "2020-02-24T04:27:17Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > How often did this happen? I usually checked the date on shillings and florins in my change in the 80s and early 90s, and I never ever saw a George V one, or a pre 1948 George VI one. Very rarely. But I remember being told which were the silver ones and keeping them. Probably only ever one or two. I expect I’ve still got them somewhere in a box… ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/51 "2020-02-24T12:22:13Z")
FWIW, my mother was still using a “silver Joey” threepenny bit (replaced in the 1930s) as the “gift” in her Christmas pudding, well into the 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/52 "2020-02-25T05:06:03Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > FWIW, my mother was still using a “silver Joey” threepenny bit (replaced in the 1930s) as the “gift” in her Christmas pudding, well into the 1950s. Is that the tiny sliver of silver from England? I have about half a dozen of those my dad collected. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/53 "2020-02-25T06:01:43Z")
That’s the one: [https://24carat.co.uk/frame.php?url=1919silverthreepence.html](https://24carat.co.uk/frame.php?url=1919silverthreepence.html) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/54 "2020-02-25T06:33:44Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Not for all that long though, I think. At least I (born 1970) don’t recall ever seeing one in the wild, whereas when I lived in the UK in the 80’s,1- and 2-shilling pieces (5p’s and 10p’s in their case) were all over the joint. The last sixpence I saw in Vic.Aus was in 1975. (decimalisation was, I thing 1056) Not that I was particularly looking, and I didn’t use money from one week to the next. It might have been a George – A lot of them were. > [@RioRico](#): > > Between the Hanoverian Victoria (reigned 1837-1901) and the Windsorian Elizabeth II (1952-whenever) (and I hope I didn’t screw up those royal house attributions) the UK monarchs were Edward VII (1901-1910, 9 years), George V (1910-1935, 25 years), Edward VIII (Jan-Dec 1936, under a year), and George VI (1936-1952, 15 years). Were currencies bearing their images issued for each? How long after their coronations? I’m think they all got stamps. Aus/British stamps used to have the portrait of the monarch. And, back in the day, a stamp was something you noticed – not like a coin or a banknote. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041/55 "2020-02-25T07:31:26Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > The last sixpence I saw in Vic.Aus was in 1975. (decimalisation was, I thing 1056) . . . 1. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-commonwealth-new-money/848041.md?page=2)