Just recently, Scrobs was running out of 'parking money', which consists of a sort of leather wallet, kept in the car for such purposes. It also doubles as a cash payment for when Senora O'Blene demands a punnet of cherries or a bag of apples just as we are passing a road-side farm stall at 50mph!
I then realised when I bought some pound coins at our post office (not the bank, there aren't any around now), that it is ages since I carried coins in my trouser pocket! I nearly always tap with the card, and have forgotten my pin on several occasions (once, when buying a car for goodness sake), and cash in the form of plastic notes is so bent in my wallet, that I can't even straighten it out now!
Years ago, I remember my Uncle Jack, always a generous man, asking me if I would like an ice cream or similar, and delving into an enormous trouser pocket and bringing out a big handfull of change, (he had huge hands), made up of several half-crowns, florins, old pennies, etc., and taking a shilling or a sixpence from the huge collection for me to dash off to the local shop! All that money must have weighed a ton, and no wonder there was always a thriving business in having one's trouser pockets re-lined!
I still have a little tin of early 1970s change, which I found in a writing desk which was left as a legacy for me some years ago, by another lovely Uncle and Aunt. I just can't bear to cash it, (it's worth around £2.50), as the tin also has some receipts for the milkman, and a local W.I. subscription, but I suppose it'll go one day...
That "old" money was big and heavy. It still surprised me when I come across a pre 1971 penny.
ReplyDeleteI think at one stage the metal content was worth more in scrap value than the face value, certainly for early 20th C silver.
Proof of inflation as the money gets smaller and the smallest denominations disappear.
We also have a leather wallet kept in the car for parking machines which don't take cards. Only a few of those round here now. I remember my dad bringing out a big handful of change when he was going to treat us and I'm sure I also remember my mum having to mend his pockets every once in a while.
ReplyDeleteI remember once (as a lad) doing errands all year to save money in a plastic globe (piggy bank) so that I could spend it in Great Yarmouth on our family holiday. I'd packed the huge globe with copper coins and decided to buy a fishing rod with it. I remember the shop owner counting out the exact change and my parents being furious with me.
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