The brass threepence, a twelve-sided coin dated between 1937 and 1970, was the first British coin that was not round. By the mid-1930s, the weight of the bronze penny and its fractions had become an issue for firms that dealt with them in bulk. The silver threepence was unpopular in England due to its small size. The Royal Mint chose a brass twelve- sided threepence readily distinguishable from other coins due to its size, shape and colour. The initial reverse design by Frances Madge Kitchener of a thrift plant was altered at the direction of the Royal Mint by Percy Metcalfe without Kitchener's knowledge. The new coin was slow to circulate when released to the public in 1937, but gained the public's liking, and the silver threepence was discontinued in 1945. A new design, with a crowned portcullis (pictured), was instituted for Elizabeth II in 1953. After the decimalisation of the pound in 1971, it rapidly vanished from circulation and lost its status as legal tender after 31 August 1971. (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_threepence> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1906: A team of Italian archaeologists led by Ernesto Schiaparelli discovered the tomb of Kha and Merit, an ancient Egyptian foreman and his wife, in the workmen's village of Deir el-Medina. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Kha_and_Merit> 1961: All 72 people on board Sabena Flight 548, including the entire U.S. figure-skating team, and one person on the ground were killed when the aircraft crashed on approach to Brussels Airport. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabena_Flight_548> 1976: The current Constitution of Cuba, providing for a system of government and law based on those of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, was adopted by a national referendum. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Cuba> 1996: A Long March 3B rocket carrying the communications satellite Intelsat 708 crashed immediately after launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China, destroying a nearby town and killing an unknown number of inhabitants. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: cruciverbalist: 1. A person who constructs or solves crosswords. 2. About Word of the Day 3. Nominate a word 4. Leave feedback <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cruciverbalist> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: Common sense and the truth should feel authorless, writ by time itself. --Miranda July <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miranda_July> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe write to: [email protected] Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
