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Included on this page are illustrations of some of the later coins and notes. 1915-1917 1915-1917Although bank notes had been used in Napoleonic times, 1915 saw the start of
the permanent change from gold coin to paper money. The crown was also no longer
issued for general circulation, although small numbers would continue to be
minted for special purposes. Ten shilling and one pound notes of this period
were issued by The Treasury, not the Bank of England.
Click on the thumbnail picture below to view a pair of half sovereigns. This pair were the last gift that a passenger on the Titanic gave to her two young daughters before the voyage.
The picture below is of a sovereign. Again, click on the thumbnail to view the full sized picture.
1918-1942By 1917, the change to paper money was complete, although gold sovereigns
were still issued outside the UK. Gold coins would still be struck as proof
sets, but were not used in general circulation. The Bank of England took over
the issue of ten shilling and one pound notes in 1928. Britain left the Gold
Standard in 1931 and, since that date it has not been possible to covert paper
money to gold coin at its face value.
The picture below is of a silver thrupenny bit, which was discontinued at the end of this period. Click on the thumbnail to view a larger version. The other coins were similar in appearance to the 1967 set, shown below
1943-1945The twelve-sided nickel brass threepence replaced the silver threepence in
1942, although some silver coins were minted for outside the UK in 1943 and
1944.
1945-1960Paper money in denominations above five pounds ceased to be legal tender in
1945
Click on the thumbnails below to view the white £5 note of the period. The back is included, but rather uninteresting.
1960-1969Production of farthings ceased in 1956, when inflation had rendered them
practically worthless. They were withdrawn completely in 1960.
The thumbnails below show both the obverse and reverse sides of a set of pre-decimalisation coins issued in 1967. Click on them to expand the picture. This set includes the Churchill Crown. Although commemorative coins have always been legal tender, this was unusual in that it did sometimes crop up in change.
These thumbnails show the two sides of the one pound note. Again, click on them to expand the picture.
1969-1970A decision to decimalise the currency had been taken in 1965. As part of the
preparation for this, and because inflation was also taking its toll of the
value, the half penny was withdrawn in 1969. A further preparation was the
introduction of the five pence piece and the ten pence piece in 1968. These were
identical in size and weight to the shilling and the florin respectively, and
were used in their place.
1970-1971The final stage in the preparation for decimalisation was the withdrawal of
the half crown in 1970. In the same year, a twenty pound note was issued.
To prepare people for Decimal Day, the Royal Mint issued a number of guidance packs, with explanatory notes and samples of the actual coins. The two thumbnails below show one of these packs.
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| Last updated 05 February 2001
© C P Bignell 2000
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