Talk:Sixpence (British coin)

Acceptance of sixpences in the 1970s

 * "As time went on, though, and the inflation of the 1970s eroded the value and utility of the coin, only banks were likely to readily accept them."

This doesn't make sense. Sixpences were worth 2 1/2 new pence, and in the 1970s there was even a half penny (worth one fifth of the sixpence) that was generally accepted. I can't remember now how common sixpences were in the 1970s, but if there was any difficulty getting them accepted it can't have been purely due to the low value of the coin. If indeed "only banks were likely to readily accept them" then a different reason is needed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.137.136.114 (talk) 23:27, 7 July 2007


 * Indeed, I can remember shops still happily accepting tanners into 1980. They also continued to be in circulation because in some rural areas, some of the public telephones were still using the sixpence, with the last few being converted in 1979. The publicity around the demonetisation of the tanner was certainly prominent, which, if it was largely no longer accepted, it need not have been. EmleyMoor 11:54, 10 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I have a very clear memory of my Grandad giving me a sixpence and sending me down the shop on my own for some sweets. I chose 12 halfpenny sweets.  The shopkeeper then had to explain to a very upset boy that I could only afford five - I reckon this must have been 1979 - I was only born in 1973! 78.147.12.45 (talk) 20:54, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

They weren't that rare by the late 70s and as has been mentioned above it was also commonly accepted that you could still spend them - I started secondary school in the second half of the 70's and have memories of spending them then. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.52.49.162 (talk) 15:58, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

The reference to tanners reminded me of the following 'jingle' .. Rule Brittania two tanners make a bob! three make eighteen pence and four two bob! .......... it was sung to the same tune as the 'jingoistic' song ... Rule Brittania ... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.38.160.25 (talk) 07:41, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Value of the Sixpence in Regency England
A question please. In a recent biography of Peter Mark Roget the following sentence appears: "The newstand price of the new four-page broadsheets such as the Manchester Gazette was typically a hefty sixpence - roughly $20 today." This is circa 1805-1810. What am I missing here? Twenty of today's dollars for a four page newspaper. I guess the circulation was rather limited. Alvmitchel (talk) 14:49, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Paper and Priting were massively more expensive then, also it would depend on how the $20 was worked out because if you converted the sixpence into current british money then converted it to dollars then the real value would be only about $10 as wages and prices in gold terms are essentially double in the UK.(86.31.182.119 (talk) 22:45, 31 July 2008 (UTC))

Save Our Sixpence (SOS) Campaign.
Following Decimalisation there was a call to keep or save the tanner (a suggestion to mint a 2.5p coin was not popular) which was why it stayed in circulation longer than originally planned.This movement fizzled out when it was pointed out that this would mean having a coin with "six pence" on the reverse that was worth half of one marked "five pence" which would be somewhat confusing, especially for tourists.94.196.77.93 (talk) 14:52, 7 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.197.158.199 (talk) 21:24, 30 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Why were sixpence coins considered more worthy of being "saved" than any other pre-decimal coinage ? 213.40.104.250 (talk) 20:18, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps because it was the lowest value pre-decimal coin that could be easily multiplied into a 100 penny pound.There were also coin operated machines which took sixpences and could not be adapted to take other coins whereas the first 5p and 10p coins were identical to the shilling and two shilling coins and machines taking these could continue to be used without costly adaption.Special:Contributions/94.196.39.22|94.196.39.22]] (talk) 17:07, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

added sources for "I've Got Sixpence"
I'm still trying to figure out whether the lyrics for this song consciously drew on the earlier publication, By the Light of the Silvery Moon (song). If anyone knows, please let me know. --Avirr (talk) 03:27, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

error?
2.828 grams in the text, but 2.88 grams in the infobox.CountMacula (talk) 18:37, 16 April 2012 (UTC)

Another meaning ???
Found the following sentence in Ch. Dickens' Pickwick Papers, Chapter 34: "... Bath being full, the company, and the sixpences for tea, poured in, in shoals. ..." Could somebody pls explain to an unerudited German the meaning of SIXPENCES in THIS context? Tank you for your help! Armin ––79.215.137.109 (talk) 15:53, 26 December 2013 (UTC)

This simply means that the people visiting had sixpenny coins to pay for their pots of tea.94.196.211.54 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:39, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Use in the First World War
It’s use definitely pre-dates the second war; the version copyrighted in 1941 had been done about ten years earlier in a sound short (sorry not to have more info). The singers did sixpence-fourpence-twopence, and the silvery moon.

Some info here, useful, tho with an annoying tag at the end suggesting it is a plot against the workers: https://johnesimpson.com/blog/2015/09/those-happy-go-lucky-poor-folks-ive-got-sixpence/

The version I remember from summer camp did the full countdown sixpence, fivepence, and so on down to nopence, to the annoyance of bus drivers. The ‘happy’ line was ‘when the Air Force gets its pay’.

Years later, I heard a story that American flyers had picked it up training in England during the first war, and that they had changed the ‘pay’ line to ‘air corps’. The song was brought back to the US, and continued as a part of training in the Signal Corps, later the Army Air Corps, later the Air Force. According to the story, it is still used by the Air Force to this day. That would explain the ‘Air Force’ version I heard.

Some research needed here, but if this can be established and sourced, it could improve the article.

P.S Look, World War One! https://folkways-media.si.edu/liner_notes/folkways/FW05249.pdf

2A00:23C7:E284:CF00:F443:6924:9DA2:C088 (talk) 10:26, 2 September 2020 (UTC)

Cultural Significance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sing_a_Song_of_Sixpence

Drsruli (talk) 02:24, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

Is there any point in having a "value" tag?
As I've noted on the other coin articles, there appears to be no consensus or common ground which can be reached on how to list it, so I suggest just removing the "value" tag from the infobox. TheCurrencyGuy (talk) 05:40, 22 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Discussion centralised at talk:Pound sterling --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 08:14, 22 July 2022 (UTC)

Turn on a....
Seems odd that this page doesn't include the saying "turn on a sixpence". I'm 37, and I've heard the saying many times in my lifetime. A quick online search finds it all over the place. RadHarry (talk) 09:22, 10 December 2023 (UTC)