Long Days Ago
L-S-D (Pounds – Shillings & Pence) . . .
Pre-Decimal Currency
Long days and many years ago,
When my world was young,
The cash dispenser was my mum,
The ATM being still unsung.
Copper reigned and Silver sang,
Paper money was rare.
Of Ten Bob notes at Half a Pound
I was largely unaware.
The basis of our currency,
That was the lowly Penny;
Ha’pennies too were everywhere,
Certainly very many.
Farthings then were still extant,
Nine-sixty to the Pound.
A Shilling was a full Twelve Pence –
No longer still around.
The Florin, or the ‘Two-Bob Bit’,
Two Shillings it was then,
Has now become the Tenpence piece,
The word not used again.
Twenty Shillings to the Pound,
A Quid as I remember;
Two-forty Pence you’d find there were
When one Pound I dismember.
Then there was the Thrupenny Bit,
Twelve-sided nickel-brass;
At eighty to the British Pound,
Weighty cash to amass.
A Bob, a Tanner, Half-a-Crown,
All common currency;
Spend a Penny? – I often did –
In an emergency.
Oh, how times change, devalued now,
Is our British coinage;
The Penny Store is now Poundstore,
Such changes in our language.
All these were common British coins,
Which then weighed down my pocket.
Now all I need to pay my bills
Is plastic in my wallet.
Roland's Ragbag 