Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2017 April 21

= April 21 =

Worth of 3d today
This is a question about pre-decimalisation currency in the UK, by the way. My Google-fu has deserted me: how much would 3d be worth in 2017? If it makes it easier, you could answer the question "how much is a threepenny bit worth in 2017". TammyMoet (talk) 16:18, 21 April 2017 (UTC)
 * . -- Jayron 32 16:28, 21 April 2017 (UTC)
 * BTW, I quite like that link. It gives you the result you think you want, but it also does its best to dispel the myth that it's possible to come up with a single answer to that question that's useful in all contexts. ApLundell (talk) 22:06, 21 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Jayron32's source is good if this question is about inflation.
 * If it's about face value, Penny_(British_pre-decimal_coin) indicates that there were 240 pennies to a pound. (So threepence would be $undefined 1/80$ or 0.0125 pounds.)
 * If it's about the value of antique coins, you'll need to know the date and condition of the coin and compare it to a pricing guide. here is one I found at random on Google.
 * Hope this helps.ApLundell (talk) 16:43, 21 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Just for fun, a fourth interpretation: the 3d bit was demonetised in 1971 as part of the decimalisation process, so it isn't officially a coin any more and therefore isn't worth anything. --76.71.6.254 (talk) 17:38, 21 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Inputting 1963 as the start date into Jayron32's source results in an equivalent value of about 25p in 2015. I chose 1963, as I was 5 then and recall we had a vending machine that sold a Milky Way for 3d, so ignoring probable reductions in size since then, if you find out the current price of a Milky Way then you'll have an idea of purchasing power parity. I loved that machine - I once found a 6d coin in the coin return which someone must have tried to use and not recovered; it was a lot of money to a small kid back then! A few years later I recall a vending machine that would sell you a pack of 20 cigarettes for 2/6 (that was 30d) - that would be prior to 1969 when the Half crown was withdrawn. -- Arwel Parry (talk) 17:45, 21 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Good call, User:Arwel Parry (BTW, we're the same age); the economist Nico Colchester devised a scheme using 'the Mars bar as an effective way of monitoring fluctuations in UK prices over past decades. He praised it as a "currency for our time", being a "basket of staple commodities (cocoa, vegetable fats, milk solids, sugar)" and a "unit of account certainly more reliable than gold, which is prone to speculation"' Anyhow, a single Milky Way is now 60 New Pence in a supermarket.
 * I found ordinary circulated 1960s threepenny bits on the internet for anything between £0.99 and £3.90  apiece.  Alansplodge (talk) 23:32, 21 April 2017 (UTC)
 * I'd be happy to considerably undercut those prices if only I could find my collection.  D b f i r s   07:02, 24 April 2017 (UTC)


 * The UK has just issued a new £1 coin which is the same shape as the old brass 3d bit. This has led many people to suggest that this indicates that the £1 today is really worth the same as the 3d before decimalisation. Wymspen (talk) 14:37, 22 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Hence the question. Thanks all.TammyMoet (talk) 17:14, 22 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Actually, the new £1 coin is not much like the old 3d coin at all. The 12 faces of the edges were completely flat, and would allow you to balance a few of them on top of each other, on their sides.  The edges of the £1 coin are fairly rounded.  --Phil Holmes (talk) 10:07, 23 April 2017 (UTC)
 * For those who don't know, the weight and diameter of the pound coins was the same as that of the old gold sovereign.  The alloy being much lighter than gold (which is a very heavy metal) explains why the coins are so thick.   I expect the same applies to the new one. 79.73.128.211 (talk) 18:36, 23 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Er, that's complete bullshit. The weight of the gold sovereign is 7.98g; the weight of the old pound coin is 9.5g and of the new pound coin is 8.75g. &#8209; Iridescent 20:28, 23 April 2017 (UTC)