> A "bob" was a shilling so a two shilling coin, or a florin, was a "two bob bit" and a ten shilling note was a "ten bob note".
> 2/6 was a half crown.
> 5/- was a crown but was allready discontinued when I was a child, this coin, also known as a dollar, was adopted in the colonies as the standard unit and a US dollar was worth approximately 5/- up until the late 1950's/early 1960's.
> Gentlemans outfitters still priced suits in guineas (£1/1/-) until the late 1960's.
>
> I personally prefer the old money, the coins were very heavy and you knew if you had any change in your pocket! The copper coins "rang" beautifully and I still keep a 1956 penny in my purse just for calling "Heads or tails?" and for showing people.
>
> Keep the memory alive! Em

That's interesting, Emma. I've been collecting coins from all over the world for decades, and I have lots of old-fashioned English coins. Some of the pennies are as big as a US silver dollar. Some of them have the Queen's grandfather on them.

Soldiers returning from wars bring a lot of coins home. They lose interest and give them away or try to pass them off to someone.

I have a Mexican 20 cent coin that I got from a Coke machine. Back then, a Coke was 5 cents, but the machines would make change for a quarter or a dime. So I put put in a dime, and got back my nickle, and a couple of dimes, and that Mexican coin, plus a Coke. It was a good transaction. I think the 20 cent piece was jamming up the works and I was the first person to push the coin return.

But when I travel, I use plastic and hope that the exchange rate will be in my favor. If it isn't, I won't hear the bad news until my trip is over.
Howard