Editing Decimal Day (section)

===Preparation===
[[File:British decimalisation training stamps in blocks.JPG|thumbnail|right|British decimalisation training stamps in the same colours and values as the upcoming decimal stamps]]
Under the new system, the pound was retained, but was divided into 100 new pence, denoted by the symbol ''p''. New coinage was issued alongside the old coins. The [[British five pence coin|5p]] and [[British ten pence coin|10p]] coins were introduced in April 1968 and were the same size, composition and value as the [[shilling]] and [[two shillings (British coin)|two shilling]] coins in circulation with them. In October 1969, the [[British fifty pence coin|50p]] coin was introduced, with the [[Bank of England 10 shilling note|10s. note]] withdrawn on 20 November 1970. This reduced the number of new coins required to be introduced on Decimal Day, meaning that the British public would already be familiar with three of the six new coins. Small booklets were made available, containing some or all of the new denominations.

The old [[British halfpenny coin|halfpenny]] was withdrawn from circulation on 31 July 1969, and the [[half crown (British coin)|half-crown]] (2s. 6d.) followed on 31 December to ease the transition.<ref name=autogenerated2>''All Change'', p. 9</ref> The [[British farthing coin|farthing]], last minted in 1956, had already ceased to be [[legal tender]] in 1961.

A substantial publicity campaign took place in the weeks before Decimal Day, including a song by [[Max Bygraves]] called "Decimalisation".<ref>{{cite web |title=Max Bygraves Decimalisation |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCiEzQ4EGk4 |via=YouTube | date=14 July 2010 |access-date=29 January 2020 |archive-date=3 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103103142/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCiEzQ4EGk4&feature=youtu.be |url-status=live }}</ref> The BBC broadcast a series of five-minute programmes, titled "Decimal Five", to which [[The Scaffold]] contributed some specially written tunes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Decimal Five |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/706bd1b534e2495ead2f22063a346a38 |publisher=BBC |access-date=29 January 2020 |date=15 February 1971 |archive-date=29 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129210346/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/706bd1b534e2495ead2f22063a346a38 |url-status=live }}</ref> ITV repeatedly broadcast a short drama called ''Granny Gets The Point'' starring [[Doris Hare]], in which an elderly woman who does not understand the new system is taught to use it by her grandson.<ref>{{cite web |title=Granny Gets the Point |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2089697/ |website=IMDb |access-date=29 January 2020 |quote=A short information film produced to get Britain ready for decimalisation in February 1971 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205120145/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2089697/ |url-status=live }}</ref> At 10&nbsp;a.m. on 15 February and again the following week, BBC 1 broadcast 'New Money Day', a ''Merry-Go Round'' schools' programme in which puppet maker [[Peter Firmin]] and his small friend Muskit encountered different prices and new coins when they visited the shops.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/470fe242e1b24520bbfd476b22bca446|title=BBC Programme Index|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk|date=15 February 1971 |access-date=20 September 2021|archive-date=20 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920212406/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/470fe242e1b24520bbfd476b22bca446|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0ab340245e9147de867f89085864933e|title=BBC Programme Index|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk|date=22 February 1971 |access-date=20 September 2021|archive-date=20 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920212043/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0ab340245e9147de867f89085864933e|url-status=live}}</ref>

Banks received stocks of the new coins in advance, which were issued to retailers shortly before Decimal Day to enable them to give change immediately after the changeover. Banks were closed from 3:30&nbsp;p.m. on Wednesday 10 February 1971 to 10:00&nbsp;a.m. on Monday 15 February to enable all outstanding cheques and credits in the clearing system to be processed and customers' account balances to be converted from £sd to decimal. In many banks, the conversion was done manually, as few bank branches were then computerised. February had been chosen for Decimal Day because it was the quietest time of the year for the banks, shops and transport organisations.

Many items were priced in both currencies for some time before and after the change. Prior to Decimal Day, items priced in both currencies had displayed the price in predecimalised currency first, with the price in decimal currency last in parentheses. From Decimal Day onwards, this order was reversed, with decimal currency presented first, and predecimal currency last in parentheses; for example, ''1s (5p)'' would become ''5p (1s)''. This latter order was used on most [[association football|football]] programmes during the 1970–71 season. High-denomination (10p, 20p and 50p) stamps were issued on 17 June 1970.<ref name=autogenerated2/> Post offices were issued with simplified [[training stamp]]s in the same colours as the upcoming decimal stamps.<ref>"Another view" by Douglas Myall in ''[[British Philatelic Bulletin]]'', Vol. 51, No. 5, January 2014, pp. 149–151.</ref>

Exceptions to the 15 February introduction of decimalisation were [[British Rail]] and [[Greater London Council|London Transport]], which had gone decimal one day early, the former urging customers, if they chose to use pennies or threepenny pieces, to pay them in multiples of 6d (2<small>{{sfrac|1|2}}</small>p, the [[lowest common multiple]] of the two systems).

Conversion tables were provided, showing how prices in £sd rounded to the new currency:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.stampboards.com/images/miscr/0enb2UY.jpg |title=New halfpenny conversion table (shoppers' table) |access-date=23 October 2021 |archive-date=23 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023133823/https://www.stampboards.com/images/miscr/0enb2UY.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref> this including saying 3d was equivalent to 1p though 9d was equivalent to 4p. This led to some anomalies: school meals were charged at 1s 9d a day or 8s 9d for a five-day week; these became 9p a day or 45p a week despite the conversion tables suggesting 8s 9d should be 44p.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1971/mar/08/school-meals#S5CV0813P0_19710308_HOC_490 School Meals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023133824/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1971/mar/08/school-meals#S5CV0813P0_19710308_HOC_490 |date=23 October 2021 }}, Hansard HC Deb 8 March 1971 vol 813 col 195</ref>