Also, remember that calculations in Pounds, shillings and pence were all done by hand in a pre-computer era. (The UK changed to decimal currency in 1971.)
Every office had well-thumbed ready reckoners which enabled office workers to calculate the price of 148 widgets at two pounds three-and-sevenpence each, or discounts, commissions and taxes. I hated doing those sort of calculations as arithmetic exercises at school. Having to do them constantly as part of my job would have been unbearable. Peter Goodyear Melbourne, Australia On Fri, May 31st, 2019 at 5:47 AM, Tom Wade <[email protected]> wrote: > You're fortunate ! I'm old enough to remember how we had to grapple > with this mess. > > For the benefit of our American friends, pre decimal currency in the UK > (and in Ireland, since our currency was at that time linked to sterling) > consisted of > > One Pound divided into twenty shillings. > Each shilling divided into 12 pennies (or 'pence'). > Pennies further subdivided into half pennies and quarter pennies > ("ha'pennies & "farthings"). Coins consisted of 1/4, 1/2, 1, 3, 6 > pennies, along with 1, 2 shillings, 2-shillings-and-6-pence (the '2 and > sixpence' or 'half crown') (!) and notes starting with 10 shillings, 1 > pound and upward. In Ireland, we also had to contend with both British > and Irish coins which both circulated. Although they used the same > denominations, they used different sizes and metals. > > Items would be priced in Pounds, Shillings & Pence (known as LSD (*), > which stood for the Latin Librum, Sesterce & Dinarius !). > > You might go into a shop and buy items priced at 5 shillings and 4 pence > ("5/4"), 17 shillings and 4 pence ha'penny ("17/4½"), and 1 pound, two > shillings and sixpence ("1-2-6"). Now calculate the change out of a > fiver. > > When I tell this to young people now, they react with incredulity that > we put up with such nonsense for so long (1971), particularly as the > rest of the civilized world had followed Thomas Jefferson's example of > 100 subunits. > > Your grandchildren will doubtless react the same way in 40+ years when > you describe the mental gymnastics involved in calculating with inches, > feet, yards, ounces and all the rest of these antiquated units that > should have been left in the 18th century where they belong :-) > > (*) Nothing to do with lysergic acid diethylamide, but you'd be excused > for thinking they were related. > > Tom Wade > [email protected] > > On 2019-05-30 15:19, Stephen Humphreys wrote: > > Too young for pounds, shillings, pence Iâm afraid > > > > > >> On 30 May 2019, at 2:06 pm, Tom Wade <[email protected] > >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > >> > >> No doubt you are still being charged in pounds, shillings and pence, > >> rather than this newer nasty decimal stuff :-) > >> > >> Tom Wade > >> [email protected] > >> On 2019-05-28 01:46, Stephen Humphreys wrote: > >>> My unit is in cubic feet.  I can provide photos if needed > >>> > >>> > >>>> On 27 May 2019, at 10:11 am, frewston+john <[email protected] > >>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > >>>> > >>>> All gas suppliers in UK use kWh. Meters show in m3. Conversion if I > >>>> remember correctly is approx. 10 - 11 kWh to the m3, depends on > >>>> exact type of gas supplied. So, averaging out at 10.5, 100 m3 = > >>>> 1050 kWh. > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> John Frewen-Lord > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> On 2019-05-26 19:19, James R. Frysinger wrote: > >>>> > >>>>> Apparently, British Gas (BG) charges for gas usage by the kilowatt > >>>>> hour, not by any of the strange units common in the US. BG is in > >>>>> the middle of a roll-out for dual fuel homes that will let users > >>>>> switch between the two forms of energy usage somehow. > >>>>> > https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/money/british-gas-get-a-smart-meter-or-well-charge-you-an-extra- 300-93kzplzlj > > >>>>> > <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/? url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thetimes.co.uk%2Fedition%2Fmoney%2Fbritish-gas-get-a-smart-meter-or- well-charge-you-an-extra-300- 93kzplzlj&data=02%7C01%7C%7C566b49dc1a054377cf9008d6e50159a7%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaa aaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636948191300247993&sdata=0yqengKKkQ5%2BWOZe5bS1ouWtsqcBEHau2m VSPJ9wDzk%3D&reserved=0> > >>>>> > >>>>>> Both gas and electricity consumption is measured in kWh. > >>>>> https://www.ukpower.co.uk/home_energy/tariffs-per-unit-kwh > >>>>> > <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/? url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ukpower.co.uk%2Fhome_energy%2Ftariffs-per-unit- kwh&data=02%7C01%7C%7C566b49dc1a054377cf9008d6e50159a7%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaa aaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636948191300258005&sdata=2eW9iGK%2FYHeMp2lhcWLALjVyqWWRL05%2FHZYH U8cwUoU%3D&reserved=0> > >>>>> > >>>>> So apparently the necessary energy unit conversions are done by > >>>>> BG, not by the consumers. > >>>>> > >>>>> Jim Frysinger > >>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>> USMA mailing list > >>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > >>>> > https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.colostate.edu%2Fcgi- bin%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fusma&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cb12d8f16db2a48bb45ab08d6e283bfc b%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636945452816673593&sdata=RO23VTSj X5abM%2FKSvzpKV6qlOd7FN9Kf6cymfL%2FWKJU%3D&reserved=0 > > >>>> > <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.colostate.edu%2Fcgi- bin%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fusma&data=02%7C01%7C%7C566b49dc1a054377cf9008d6e50159a7%7 C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636948191300268010&sdata=vdMtkDv6Amf5DJtf wNQVP2LSiLOABwXt2Z%2BGdNUQAU4%3D&reserved=0> > >>> > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> USMA mailing list > >>> [email protected] > >>> https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> USMA mailing list > >> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > >> > https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.colostate.edu%2Fcgi- bin%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fusma&data=02%7C01%7C%7C566b49dc1a054377cf9008d6e50159 a7%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636948191300318054&sdata=cPghEXZl UUqSVveIjMI1SKZIdvrGy8xaScPNLgLVLIo%3D&reserved=0 > > > > _______________________________________________ USMA mailing list [email protected] https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma
