Celebrating 50 years of decimal currency.
On 15 February 1971 Britain changed over from the centuries old system of pounds, shillings and pence to a new currency based on 100 pennies to the pound. This change affected the entire nation, bringing people together as they learnt to master a new way of valuing everything. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Decimal Day in February 2021, we hosted a national programme of activities with the aim of connecting generations and getting people talking about their memories of the changeover.
Download the full project evaluation document (6.2MB)
Reminiscence sessions
Find out more about our well-being project for the anniversary of decimalisation.
A history of decimalisation
Find out more about the monumental change from pounds, shillings and pence.
Decimal collection
The Royal Mint Museum has an outstanding collection of material relating to decimalisation.
Going decimal
What is decimalisation? How many shillings in a pound? All this and more on our Learning Zone!
Short-story competition
A competition open to all year five and year six primary school pupils in Wales.
Cystadleuaeth Stori Fer
Cystadleuaeth sy’n agored i bob disgybl blwyddyn pump a chwech mewn ysgolion cynradd yng Nghymru.
Medal design competition
Our decmialisation medal design competition open to all undergraduate university students.