Should We Ditch The Penny?
There is an article on the BBC web site discussing small coins and whether we need them.
It makes a very valid point, and although I’m a large cash user, I can’t think of the last time, I purposely used a coin smaller than a five pence. I don’t even chuck them in as tips.
I just looked and I found that I’ve only one two pence, amongst a load of ones bigger than ten pence, in my coin pocket and I can’t think how it got there! So it probably shows how rare it is for you to get them in change these days.
If I go back a few years, some purchases like newspapers, were definitely ones that needed pennies, but now I buy my daily paper on subscription to get vouchers and the Standard is a free sheet. Buses too, would have needed a few coins, but now I use a card to get them free. Even if you’re under sixty, I suspect buses don’t need pennies.
So just what do we need pennies for?
I suppose there is the pub game of shove two pence or whatever it is these days.
I certainly wouldn’t miss them, if they ceased to be legal tender.
A Dead Bus Outside NatWorst
Apparently, all of the passengers had jumped into the branch to get their money out. The cashiers decided to pay everybody out in 5p. pieces and the result was the extra weight caused the bus to stall and break down.
A Dead Bus Outside NatWorst
Apparently this ruse was tried in 1745 to stop a run on the Bank of England, when Bonnie Prince Charlie was marching on London. In those days though they used sixpences.
The Curious Things One Finds
My late wife’s great aunt Rita was an unusual character. She was an aunt by marriage and the engagement had lasted well upwards of twenty-five years. But things like that happened in the 1930s and 1940s.
I was reminded of her last night, when I watched a bit of the new Upstairs Downstairs. On the wall in one scene, was a piece of needlework showing flowers, that could have been done by Auntie Rita. It is very similar to three pieces that she gave my late wife and I will probably put on the wall at some time.
You might argue why would a sixty-three year-old man keep something like that in a modern house.
The reason is that Auntie Rita worked for something like the Royal School of Needlework and she taught Edward, Prince of Wales how to do it. She also is reputed to have told my mother-in-law, that he and Mrs. Simpson liked more than the odd drink.
So when I was going through my odd box, I came across this drown-sized coin of Edward VIII. Here is the obverse.
Obverse of Edward VIII Crown Coin
What is unusual is that Edward VIII is shown wearing a crown, which as he hadn’t had a coronation, wouldn’t have been shown on any official coins or medals. So I would assume it is some unauthorised souvenir.
The reverse is unusual too and unlike any other coin I’ve seen.
Reverse of Edward VIII Crown Coin
It is very art nouveau, which makes me feel it was just a crap souvenir produced by a speculator.
On the other hand, because of the needlework connection, it might be something different! If anybody has any ideas, please let me know, as I am a man with a terribly curious nature.
My late wife also had another connection to Mrs. Simpson. She regularly worked in the court, where Mrs. Simpson’s divorce was granted. In fact the adoption case mentioned in this post was handled in the same Court.
The Anonymous Widower 