Decimal Currency, 14 February 1966 - Television advertisements
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- čas přidán 1. 08. 2012
- Television advertisement promoting the introduction of Australia's new currency system.
This is a series of animated black-and-white television advertisements designed to assist Australians with the transition from imperial to decimal currency on 14 February 1966. Through a question-and-answer format, a grandmother and a small girl explain the transition between currencies, the comparative value of each currency and the ability to use either dollars and cents or pounds, shillings and pence for up to two years after the new currency goes into circulation.
The last ad is so clever. A reassurance that your doing it right, slightly different examples, repetative theme coupled with clear voices and a catchy jingle. And TV was only fairly new at the time.
Different from the UK ones
For the UK:
Fifty new pence is exactly 10 shillings,
In one pound, there are 100 new pence,
Five new pence equal one shilling,
In 1971, this will fully commence!
That is an interesting point - was the UK right to keep the pound and introduce the decimal half penny?
@@seprishere The Conservatives were all for the 10/- system and for scrapping the pound unit.
Still Very Confusing
The pound will be divided into hundred new pence
Five new pence make one shilling, doesn’t it make sense?
The change will soon commence in 1971
And the value of the pound will be the same when we’re done
Clink go the new pence, clink clink clink
D-day is coming much sooner than you think
The pence are not exact, but it isn’t all that bad
All transactions will be rounded to the new pence a tad
how great this brought back so many memories thanks national archives well done
I remember this day so well. I had spent 18 months in the USA, but was back in Australia by then. I was helping my Dad at his Mobile gas station in Indooroopilly, Queensland. I had Glenn with me who was 2 at the time, and pregnant with Brett.
Some people came in with the new money system, and some with the old Australian money. Can't remember if the pumps had been converted to the dollar system or if they were still reading in the pounds, shillings and pence system. I am so glad that I was there to help my Dad, and keep him calmed down.
Now when I go back to Australia for visits, they are using the metric system, and have for years, which is so much easier than 12" one foot, 3 feet one yard. What is the hold up America.
+Marlene Traynor America finds it difficult to give up it's fabled Imperial ways.
+Marlene Traynor
Glenn was only two at the time, *and* pregnant with Brett? Sounds like a near miracle to me!
+Christopher Sobieniak That's the saddest part. They've tried for a while and were so stubborn as a group that we wouldn't let it happen. Maybe they will be able to try again soon, since people have changed since the 70s and may be more open to changing to the superior system. They already teach it in science classes in most schools. Just not seen as important since it's not used in everyday life.
Smooooth Assuming we can even get the south on board this time. It's true we really don't use it as a regular thing.
@@smooooth_ I think the people there are just as stubborn as they ever were. :-/
And the reason that they teach it in science class is because the USA officially accepted the Metric System in 1878. It's just that outside the science and technology sector US customary units remain ubiquitous.
what stood out to me was
- The 1 shilling to 10 cents conversion, at least that part is neat
(but after 6 pennies... ouch?)
- Telling shoppers just to give more than needed, and get change - offloading more of the maths onto cashiers etc, who should be more familiar with it
Clink goes the cents, folks, Clink clink clink
Changeover Day is closer than you think
Learn the value of the coins and the way that they appear
and things will be much smoother when the decimal point is here!
"Always pay a little more, and you get the right change", people had this drummed in their head and continued long after the "14th of February, 1966", e.g. some people will have the correct money in their hand but hand over a bill only just larger than the total cost because they can't be bothered doing the math.
That old lady was probably born in the 19th century while that kid would in his 60s now.
Australia will start using dollars and cents on February 14th, 1966.
New Zealand will start using dollars and cents on July 10th, 1967.
United Kingdom will start using new pounds and pence on the 15th of February, 1971.
Growing up in Darwin we had no television, but we did get the click go the shears jingle on 8DN. I was in second year high in 1966 - first year at the new High School at Bullocky Point (more senior years were there way before we got there).
Best Valentine's Day Present Ever!
AMEN!
Sweet!
6 pounds of potatoes for 50 cents? GEEZE Thats awesome!
Murdoch493 inflation rate is the answer
I would just exchange the 50 cents for 6 pounds.
I'm more gotten by the fact that it says 6 pounds- wiki shows me the full metrification came later; but it feels so odd to have an imperial measurement with a metric currency
2:49
"GAH! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?!?!?!"
He's the father of the family.
when the gran said that she hasn't 23 cents i think gran you can pay 2s6d that equals to 25 cents so her Change were 5 cents
0:14
*KIDS!*
By the way, in the second ad, why isn’t the dollar next to the cent instead of the penny??
Anyone know the voice actors? The grandmother sounds familiar...
You may have noticed the mistakes made if you look closely it starts out right with the Australian dollar symbol $ as having the correct TWO vertical strokes this was originally designed as advertised on “Dollar Bill” to distinguish it from the US $ symbol but some parts of the animation only show the single US vertical stroke and l have always stroked the $ sign twice as told to us by our schoolteachers of the time and still do today just by habit
James, I am from the UK but work in the US as a racecaller and always mark up my prep chart for races with a dollar sign crossed twice to demote a longshot in the race! my US colleagues have often mentioned it when they see my notes!
I have a question. Were the 'pounds' used in Australia and New Zealand at this time 'pounds sterling' having the same value as the UK pound, the same as the banknotes issued by England, Scotland, Gibraltar, Channel Islands etc today all have the same value, or were the Australian and New Zealand pounds actually separate currencies with their own values in respect of each other and sterling?
Originally the Australian pound was pegged to the British pound and this made sense as Australia mostly traded with Britain for a long time
The Australian pound was eventually de-valued slightly so that the British pound was worth a bit more than the Australian pound
And it was all F R A U D
@@amazingalloverfitness-onli1789 it same as dollars
I understand the conversion to decimalization. But, why the change from pounds to dollars?..perhaps changing names prevents confusion?.
I think the value of the pound then would have made a decimal penny too great in value and they didn't want to have to mint half-new-penny coins that would have been worth 1.2 old pennies. Also then sixpence would have been worth 2.5 new pence instead of 5 which meant they couldn't have just have a new coin to correspond to each old coin as they ended up doing for all the important coins (over sixpence) with sixpence equal to 5 cents, one shilling or 12 pence equal to 10 cents, a florin or 2 shillings worth 20 cents, 5 shillings being 50 cents, 10 shillings being a dollar, etc.
@@xenophiliusrex2501 ...Wow!!...I know I stubbornly cling to the Imperial system of measurement, but I can't believe it's as complicated as that system. But there's something to be said about the value of a base unit of currency (the pound sterling, which has to have its 'pennies' divided into sixths!...it costs out U.S. mints several times over the value of each penny (1 cent) coin we still stubbornly produce!
Because otherwise they would have needed decimal half pence like the UK had.
@@xenophiliusrex2501 In other words, what the UK actually did in 1971?
I'm puzzled why people had to be told to pay a little more and get change...didn't they already do that with the old money?
One of the reasons is so that the new money was rolled out quicker. That is what I was told at the time
+Cj I'm sure it made exchanging it a lot quicker.
+hebneh It meant that if anyone was at all "confused" they could pay a debt of (say) $0.27 in the "old money" with 3/- (That is 3 Shillings) and then receive 3 Cents in change.
What is NOT mentioned in these advertisements is that there were other more detailed explanations of the (small) problem in that 6 Pennies = 5 Cents in this conversion. (So something's gotta give and is someone being "ripped off" in this inequality?)
While I can't, at the minute, think of the little rhyme that was used, the "conversion" was as follows - when the final number of cents was less than 10: -
1 Penny, 1 Cent
2 Pennies, 2 Cents
3 Pennies, 2 Cents Too
4 Pennies, 3 Cents
5 Pennies, 4 Cents
6 Pennies, 5 Cents New
7 Pennies, 6 Cents
8 Pennies, 7 Cents
9 Pennies, 7 Cents Too
10 Pennies, 8 Cents
11 Pennies, 9 Cents
12 Pennies, 10 Cents New
So, the payment in "old" money of 3/- ($0.30) may have been be made up of Shillings (possibly mixed with sixpences, threepences and new 5 Cent, or higher, coins) and Pennies, TOTALLING 3 Shillings and the change received would have been 3 Cents (BUT, one could not mix Penny and Cent coins, unless they totaled 6 Pence and 5 Cents respectively.)
If one analyses this, it can be seen that no one should have been more than 1 Penny "out of pocket" at the end of the entire decimalisation process and they may have gained one penny in the process. Of course, many people just kept the old pennies as curiosities and the value of the metal concerned is now more than their "face" value.
Just before the conversion day, one large department store made a detailed analysts of all their transactions for the day, assuming that their (about to be converted to decimal) prices had been in force and the payments had all been made in "old" money - which they were. They assessed the "error" involved over the total of all transactions to have been 3 Pence (or 3 Cents. I am not now sure which and in which direction the "error" was, but, obviously, this overall "error" was insignificant.)
A similar thing goes on today in Australia where 1 and 2 Cent coins have been withdrawn from circulation but prices may be denominated in values that are NOT a multiple of 5 Cents, which is the smallest coin now in circulation.
Any extra 1 or 2 cents is "rounded down" to zero and any extra 3 or 4 Cents is "rounded up" to 5 Cents on the bill.
If you pay by credit or debit card, you usually get charged the exact value to the cent.
+hebneh it was cause the system was to complicated so the switched to dollars
If they paid EXACT OLD money, then they would never receive the new currency. Duh! Pretty simple for the average person to comprehend.
We no longer have 1 And 2cents 3:07 3:09
Out of curiosity, why did we move from Pounds to Dollars?
czcams.com/video/5ZTeWLA1LAs/video.html
Because the old english system was rarted for some reason.
Partially because we were trading more with the US by that point (which used dollars/cents) and were trading less with Britain (which still used Lsd)
Also because global commerce was moving towards decimal currency, and Australia (along with Britain, NZ, Nigeria) were among the last countries in the world not to switch over to decimal currency.
Also, decimal currency is objectively easier for accounting and finance and helped us integrate more into the (emerging) global financial system.
@@anthonycotter1493 Thank you!
LSD was clever. £1 could be divided by 2,3,4,5,6,8,10,12. Decimal pound only by 2,4,5,10. Not so dumb eh?
What they say Gran? Here we go:
Here come the shears boys clip clip clip( we still rippin ya off boys snip snip snip!
We will still charge ya cents of 01 2 & 3 & 4 & 99 when they don't exist
Rip Rip Rip !!!
+aussie 777
Good on ya for yelling out what we are getting ripped off for!
@@nannettesidebottom1021 Groan. You dumb arses really make total fools of yourself talking this kind of shit. You have no clue what you're talking about. Sheesh. Glad they don't make him as stupid as you two these days
It's a shame the subtitles can't spell shilling. The schilling was Austrian currency.
Most subtitles are automated, they probably didn't have subtitles in the original ads.
ahhhhhh 48 years ago today......
And my 30th Birthday!
+FrodoOne1
Happy Birthday to you!
Nannette Sidebottom Thank you. 50 years ago seems to me only like yesterday!
Could you imagine that today ? There's not a 16 to 30 year old that could get their head around the mental arithmetic at the cash register
I have, and I was born in 1987.
I can do it I was born in 2000
Shilling NEVER had a 'c' after the 's'.
10 Slashdots. Lol
Except now in Canada with the penny going I get ripped off a penny in my change!
+BBC600 I feel your pain. I wonder when we'll be next down here?
BBC600 the Canada was changeover before the Dominion of Canada has been made
So when Canadian dollar was born all Canadian pound, Nova Scotian Dollar, New Brunswick Dollar, Prince Edward island Dollar, Manitoban Dollar was already decimilised
From the U.S.; I don't know about anywhere else, but it costs the U.S. mint 7 cents to make one penny..1 cent. But..those of us my age still know the old saying 'penny wise and pound foolish'!..my parents used it! .Until a few years ago, I couldn't make sense of it..penny is money..pound is weight. Then..duh, I realized this is a legacy of our motherland!
I wish Australia just kept and decimalised the pound.
And remember, always pay a little more and you'll get the right change every time!
Because the working classes are so much smarter than us, gran!
I find the accents and date format a little odd in this series of ads. They both seem quite Americanised to me.
Compare both to this other ad for decimal currency: czcams.com/video/5ZTeWLA1LAs/video.html
Its SHILLING not schilling
It's either!
Schilling is German and shilling is English
Mansplaining starts at an early age.
Huuuuuuuuge mistake back then, they should've never decimalised their currency.