Valerie1940

By Valerie1940

Retro buttons - almost antique!

My friend, knowing I knit a lot, gave me a bag of buttons. As you can see, some are old - the orange ones on the card are price marked 1/- which puts them pre -1971 which is when the currency changed from pounds, shillings and pence to decimal. For the benefit of those under 50, 1/- (one shilling) became 5p. The white buttons are dual priced 1/2 (one shilling and tuppence) and 6p so they must have been produced in 1971 as the changeover happened on 15th February and many things were dual priced from about 3 months before until 3 months after to reassure customers that the retailers weren't rounding the prices up instead of converting exactly by the rules. The half p was the smallest coin but it didn't survive long - only until 1980.
Only a bag of buttons, but a snapshot of shopping 44 years ago - I remember it so well - but then I am old !! 
This is an early blip - only 12 noon now - hope I don't see something more worthy later on!

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