DECIMAL COINAGE

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 19, 24 January 1938, Page 17

DECIMAL COINAGE

HALFPENNY AS BASIS

In his presidential address at the annual meeting of the London Association of Chartered ■ Accountants, Mr. Thomas Goodall expressed the view that the present was an -opportune time for the decimalisation of our coinage, weights, and measures. ' "We' believe this view is very widely shared, especially by a large section of the commercial community ' and' by many members of the accountancy profession," comments the "Certified Accountants' Journal." "Instead of retaining the pound and dividing it according to taste, a better course would be to decide on the lowest unit to be retained and multiply that by 100. If the farthing be retained, then the highest unit would be equivalent to 2s Id now; if the halfpenny, to 4s 2d. Most people would agree that the halfpenny is quite small enough, although in, many countries the lowest unit is far less valuable. If we adopted what may conveniently be referred to as the 'halfpenny system,' our currency would closely resemble the American, Canadian, Newfoundland, and British Honduras, to the promotion of trade and communication between these countries. Nor is there any reason why one should be so sentimental as to miss, the, pound sterling. The United States is richer than Great Britain, and yet no inconvenience has been suffered from the fact that the dollar is normally worth little more than a fifth of our pound. "It has been suggested that our dollar might be called a royal to commemorate the niew reign, but probably Brit would be a'more appropriate name, because other countries may adopt the same system, and the highest unit would then have to be distinguished by prefixing' Dutch, Danish, or some other national expression. In time, perhaps, all nations would conveniently name their highest unit by the root of their national title. At present the French are the only people who do, but we may see the Belgian franc known as the belga, the Swiss as the schwyt or helv, according to whether the Swiss prefer a German or Latin appellation. So the peseta may become a span, the lira a tal, the mark a deut, and even the dollar a meri. But, however one may differ about the title of the highest' unit, it will be generally agreed that this 'halfpenny system' is far the most convenient of any of those considered. "The transition .to the new currency could be effected with hardly any dislocation because, although a new note worth 100 halfpence (4s 2d) would have to be Introduced, ail the present coins and notes could remain until they fall out of circulation in the normal way and after people had got used to the new 50, 25, 10, and 5 cent pieces. Any sum in the old currency could be written without remainder in the new. Penny-in-the-slot machines would need no readjustment, and insurances and bus and tube stages based on the penny would remain wo> changed*"