Introduction
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D Day (Tut Amen)
TUT AMEN had been the subject of passionate debate for centuries. Not for nothing had Trollope's Duke of Omnium 'sighed as he thought of those happy days in which he used to fear that his mind and body would both give away under the pressure of decimal coinage'. Understandably perhaps it had been shelved many times in the past; but the Government of 1966 finally determined on a decimal system of 100 pennies to the pound and decimalization was at last under way.
D Day was set for 15 February 1971 but as the old mint at Tower Hill was already working at full capacity, the extra demands of decimal coinage initiated the building of a new and spacious mint, set in the rolling green hills of South Wales. As D Day approached, the Decimal Currency Board launched the most concentrated publicity and teaching campaign ever directed at the British public. Special booklets were prepared for schools, the press carried daily advertisements and cartoons, and as D Day loomed ever nearer dual-price labels became commonplace in shops.
A swift and efficient change-over was meticulously planned and the country was well-prepared, if perhaps braced for a certain amount of chaos. But D Day came and went, negotiated far more smoothly than anyone had ever dared to hope. Fears that the transition might take up to two years proved groundless and before the end of that summer Britain's 'cherished but baffling' monetary system was largely a thing of the past.
Decimal Change
Decimal Change brought a massive change to the coinage - in its size, shape and denomination. As for the designs, apart from the stipulation that each coin should carry on the reverse its denominational value in words and figures, artists were given a relatively free hand. Ideally, though, designs were to be kept as clear and simple as possible and each was to complement its companion. Eventually chosen was a set by Christopher Ironside and there was much praise for the lack of clutter and clear engraving. A whole generation has since grown up familiar only with decimal currency. But even so changes continue as the coinage keeps to the evolutionary path it has taken for well over a thousand years.
