Opinions on the Redesign of British Currency

[Guest £]

Hello,

If the Bank of England or Royal Mint requested you to redesign the British Currency (either in design or denomination) what would you do?

I would:

1. Maybe get rid of the 2p coin (fairly useless), although we need 1p piece to maintain the decimalisation standard

2. Have a £5 Coin (a big coin!!)

3. All notes would be a 'unified' British Identity, ie notes in England would be the same as Scotland

4. Increase the usage of £50 notes and bring in £100 pound notes

5. Go back to using the 'old' type of paper on the notes, or use plastic as Austrailia

6. A new portrait for the queen on the coins (her head is to big!)

Opinions, additions!?

[Chris Perkins 228]

£,

Some nice ideas there but most would be impractical I think, for these reasons:

1. If we got rid of the 2p there would need to be millions more annoying 1p's surely, to make up for them?

2. Big coins cost a lot to produce, and notes work out cheaper. There is no way in the world the GOVt would want to spend more money than they need to, unfortunately.

3. Strictly speaking the notes in Scotland and in Northern Ireland are not even legel tender in the country of issue, they are in fact local 'tokens' used readily for all exchanges issued by local banks. So that in mind there already is a unified British note standard, ie those issued by the bank of England. And I don't think the Scots or the 'Ulster men' would want to give up their notes in favour of BofE ones!! Perish the thought, a little variety is ok, even if's a bloody pain passing them off in your English newsagents back home.

4. Until relatively recently there were £100 pound notes, I am not sure why they were withdrawn, but i'm sure something worked out cheaper for someone! Maybe they were not used enough.

5. I think the current paper choice evolved to stop the forger and I think that going back to the old type would perhaps make things easier for them. Have you seen those wonderful Northern Irish notes made of plastic with artistic 'windows' in them? (see also point 3!). I got a creased example from an NI visit and thought that I would try to iron the creases out! Even at a low heat it ended up about 5cm x 2cm!!

6. You have a point with number 6, I think perhaps the Queens portrait does crowd the flan and can see no reason why they cannot use the same one but at a reduced size.

Thankyou for your comments,

Chris

www.predecimal.com

[Guest carol]

I think what ever value the coins or notes are they should be made of quality materials,most of our coinage looks cheap and unimpressive.A country with a Queen should be proud to show off its assets.I doubt our tinny, tatty money will be 'collectable' in years to come.Have you noticed how many 1and2p are lying on the ground out side shops they have such small value people just chuck them.

[Chris Perkins 228]

Dear Carol,

Well observed, most of it will probably be worthless for at least 1000 years. And unfortunately the government cannot afford to make coins out of precious metal anymore.

The best thing to do, is purchase some of my older coins from the website!

[william 0]

I hate the current 10p piece. I want the Vicorian Gothic Florin design to go on it instead of that silly lion!

[Emperor Oli 0]

I hate the current 10p piece. I want the Vicorian Gothic Florin design to go on it instead of that silly lion! 

Oooh yes I'm sure loads of people would apprecate all those heavy coins jingling around in their pockets! Btw, they [the general public] probably wouldn't appreciate the sheer brilliance of the Gothic series.

[Sylvester 15]

I hate the current 10p piece. I want the Vicorian Gothic Florin design to go on it instead of that silly lion! 

Oooh yes I'm sure loads of people would apprecate all those heavy coins jingling around in their pockets! Btw, they [the general public] probably wouldn't appreciate the sheer brilliance of the Gothic series.

The £2 has become quite popular though, many people hoard them...

I also think that that coin's design is also a work of brilliance, it's so well thought out and carries lots of historical meaning.

I also like way the edge lettering 'standing on the shoulders of giants' stands upon the very edge of the brass ring, which stands on the achievement of all the others.

Pure genius that coin. Pity about the obverse.

[Emperor Oli 0]

I also like way the edge lettering 'standing on the shoulders of giants' stands upon the very edge of the brass ring, which stands on the achievement of all the others.

Yes, I don't know if you know but it was Isaac Newton who said it. I think it was in a letter to Robert Hooke when he said "If I see further, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants,"

[Sylvester 15]

I also like way the edge lettering 'standing on the shoulders of giants' stands upon the very edge of the brass ring, which stands on the achievement of all the others.

Yes, I don't know if you know but it was Isaac Newton who said it. I think it was in a letter to Robert Hooke when he said "If I see further, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants,"

Ineed it was, and Mr Newton was also behind the silver reconage of 1696 and the elimination of the hammered stuff. Also master of the mint for several years during Anne's reign.

Very fitting i thought.

[mint_mark 9]

My main problem with the current coins is that the smaller obverses don't seem to be very well defined. Try and grade 1p, 5p or 20p coins... it's like there is hardly any detail to start with!

And another thing! The high gloss finish that the mint uses scuffs as soon as you look at it and new coins very quickly gain a sort of milky appearance. It's so hard to find a choice BU example in your change you'd almost think it was a deliberate ploy to make you buy the sets :)

[william 0]

It's so hard to find a choice BU example in your change you'd almost think it was a deliberate ploy to make you buy the sets :)

Could be, knowing those hyped up officials at the Royal Mint!

[Guest Andrew]

Hey folks, hope you don't mind a Canadian wading into the discussion about redesigning currency In Canada, our currency has undergone some major changes in the last few years where bills have been completely redesigned and some bills have even been replaced by coins. I took note of Chris' comment in his post on this topic where he said: "Big coins cost a lot to produce, and notes work out cheaper". In actuality, the opposite is true here in Canada. Our one and two dollar bills were replaced by coins because the average life of a paper bill is only 2-3 years, whereas the life of a coin is in excess of 20 years and beyond, as many of you collectors can attest. So in the long run, it works out that it is MUCH cheaper to produce coins instead of bills. It wouldn't surprise me if many other countries looked at Canada's example to see where their Mints can save money. I personally was a bit pissed that we would have to carry around a pocket full of heavy change when the one and two dollar bills were replaced with coins and there was a big uproar about that possibility when the new coins came out...but looking back, it really didn't make much of a difference. (For example: I now carry one coin (1 dollar) instead of 4 quarters...much more convenient when you look at it)

Anyway, that's MY two cents worth on the topic ( or should I say "two PENCE" where this a UK room)

[Sylvester 15]

It wouldn't surprise me if many other countries looked at Canada's example to see where their Mints can save money.

Anyway, that's MY two cents worth on the topic ( or should I say "two PENCE" where this a UK room)

Except the US of course! Who for some reason just won't let the dollar bill go. They've tried to reintroduce a dollar coin twice already but totally failed.

And that's my two pence? dunno sounds odd, i don't use it myself but i do know it was common pre-decimal for people to say 'two penn'orth' (i.e two penny worth) at least where i live anyhow!

I can't speak for the South!

[Chris Perkins 228]

Andrew, everyone is welcome, although mainly a UK forum, it doesn't matter.

You have a point about the coins lasting longer, but I expect the initial outlay to make the coins is possibly a factor when countries decide how to work it. It must also cost a fair bit to transport coins to be distributed compared to notes, and I think notes should usually last 5+ years, surely.

Anyway, i'm sure the governments weigh things up and do whatever is cheapest, unless of course the public completely reject their ideas, like the $1 coin in the US. I can't understand why the richest country in the World has a bank note worth currently less than 60p! Brits, can you imagine having a 50p note!

[Sylvester 15]

Brits, can you imagine having a 50p note!

Can you imagine a £1 banknote!

Or a £2 one for that matter.

[Chris Perkins 228]

They still have pound notes in Scotland of course, and I can remeber getting a pound note pocket money as a kid (just about). But I think the relative denomination value and the fact £5 is the smallest note is practical. Not that there were really be anything wrong or inconvenient about having £1 notes again.

[william 0]

£1 banknotes in todays money! Sounds weird to me. Yes, a £5 note seems sensible for the smallest note. Still, if the mint did introduce a £1 note, if it looked anything like this i wouldn't mind at all!

[Emperor Oli 0]

Well the Yanks have started producing $1 coins so do you think they, as we did, will get rid of their classic $1 notes?

[Sylvester 15]

Well the Yanks have started producing $1 coins so do you think they, as we did, will get rid of their classic $1 notes?

i a word, no. The only way to effectively change over is to introduce the coin and withdraw the bill.

But they haven't done this, and unfortunately there are many people in the treasury department that are ardent dollar bill supporters. (they probably make a profit from it, as they usually have something to do with the federal reserve that prints the things).

Also it's not uncommon for the seldom seen half-dollars to be mistaken by cashiers as dollar coins, even when the lettering states quite clearly 'half dollar'! how dumb could you get?

Also having three 'circulating' types of dollar coin doesn't help. The big old ike dollar (size of a crown, last minted in the 70s) occasionally makes the rounds. The Susan B Anthony mini-dollar of 1979 onwards, and the golden sac dollars of 1999 onwards.

The public are totally confused.

[Emperor Oli 0]

The public are totally confused

*Ahem* they are Americans *ahem*

[Chris Perkins 228]

Now come on Olli, we'll have none of that, we can't have the superior colonial attitude forever! At least not in public anyway

Understand your point Sylvester they need to settle on something if they ever want to demonetize the dollar bill.

[william 0]

The public are totally confused

*Ahem* they are Americans *ahem*

And there are Americans browsing this forum as well!

[Emperor Oli 0]

And there are Americans browsing this forum as well!

Does nobody understand sarcasm?

[Sylvester 15]

And there are Americans browsing this forum as well!

Does nobody understand sarcasm?

i think that was what William was getting at! You know how serious these yanks are...

[william 0]

i think that was what William was getting at! You know how serious these yanks are...

Yes that is what i was getting at!