JULY 10 DOLLARS AND CENTS

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31380, 27 May 1967, Page 17

JULY 10 DOLLARS AND CENTS

No Loss Involved In Decimal Change

(BY A StATT REPORTER) One fear people seem to have about the change to decimal currency—now only just over six weeks away—is that somehow they stand to lose money by it. The best answer to this is to take a little extra trouble to become familiar with values in dollars and cents before July 10, which is D.C. Day. Try thinking of the value of your car, house, television set, groceries and other items in decimal currency.

After some homework now and in the weeks ahead you will be able to calculate quite easily whether, with new decimal prices, any unfair profits are being made.

The most common mistake being made at present is regarding the conversion table as a list of cent values which your pennies will be worth. The table is only a guide in the conversion of prices. . The point is illustrated when ft is realised that one eent to actually worth 1.2 d, two cents, 8.4 d and three oentilMand so on. Another argument over losing money goes something like thia: because 10s and *1 are equal, and there are 12d in Is and 100 c in $l, we will lose 2d in every shilling. This is of course quite wrong. Prices in £ s d will be converted to prices in dollars and cents. If the shops and businessmen play fair—and most pt them will do so —the new decimal prices will balance out as being equal to the old prices. ' Conversions pound end whole Shilling prices will convert •xactly to dollars and cents. Each £1 becomes $2 and each to is worth 10c. So there', no problem at all with say ft which becomes 50c, £4 10s which becomes ft and 17s which become $l7O AJI prices ending in 6d or lots of fid also convert exactly to dollars and cents. Examples are fid equals sc, and 3s 6d is equal to 35c. But other prices ending in odd pence convert to fractions Of a cent: Id is equal to 5/«c and 8d to 6 2/3c. Obviously shops will not trade in fractions of a cent, and in any ease, there are no coins worth fractions of a cent What is recommended is that pence prices be converted to the nearest whole cent. Doing it this way means that small fractions “under” balance small fractions "over” when applied over a range of prices. This is where the conversion table comes in, and if it is followed in converting prices nonne will make a profit, and no-one will make a loss. Losses on the swings will he made up on the roundabout Use Aa Check Some people seem to have

the idea that the conversion table represents fiiaet equivalent value* to cents for their pence. But there are only two amounts which are exactly equal—loc (Is) and 5c (fid). The real value at the conversion table then is not as a means of telling precisely what your pennies are worth in cents (for this it doesn't do) but for use as a check in price conversions.

Whether or not you lose by the change-over really depends on you, for if unfair conversions are made by some unscrupulous shopkeepers, your own comparison of prices charged in other shops, as well as your own reasoning, will act as the best safeguard. These dishonest shopkeepers will soon be brought into line.

The Decimal Currency Beard says that price conversion in Australia was carried out successfully according to the table, and there was no increase in the cost of living. The board makes the point that normal competition between One shop and another made sure that conversion was done correctly. Your, own careful shopping habits will be a big factor in the change-over. And the best way to be prepared for this is to get hold of a conversion table and start thinking of what prices in decimal* are likely to be.

Talk decimal* with your grocer. You will probably find him delighted that someone is taking an interest, and it will be good practice for D.C. Day and after. A Bogy 01 l6Sti * *■ possible 2d in every shilling is a groundless fear. The main point to remember here i* that one cent equals 1.2 d and two-cents equal 2.4 d and so on.

As five cents is equal to fid exactly, and 10 cents to Is, there is no loss providing price conversions are made whiqh are fair and in line with those recommended in the standard table. What about fractional penny prices, such as tariffs and the bulk supply of goods? Here again, the customer will not lose if the conversion is fair.

An insurance company representative said this week that premiums were being

converted so that any slight fractional amount involved was in favour of the customer. Likewise with the conversion of electricity charges: a spokesman for the Municipal Electricity Department said the consumer would not lose by the change -to decimal charges. Calculation of charges in the new currency had been made so that any slight fractional amount was in favour of the consumer.

Children Arrive.—The liner Rangitane arrived in Auckland from London on Thursday with 104 children. A ship's officer said the number was the largest for a long time. Most of the 480 passengers were either immigrants or New Zealanders returning home.—(PA.)