THE PASSING OF THE PENNY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 261, 23 July 1918, Page 9

THE PASSING OF THE PENNY

— —9 — A DECIMAL SYSTEM IN PRACTICE. The abolition of the penny is the inner meaning of the draft Decimal Coinage. Dill now being, considered by the Association of Chambers of Commerce,which opened its annual conference in London recently, states a correspondent to the ".Daily News." The only serious obstable is popular ignorance plus tho inertia of' a conservative race. Yet the case against the penny is as simple, as it.is' conclusive. It is (1) that the penny does not lit in to any really convenient system of coinage; (2) that the penny has, owing to the changes of value consequent upon the jfnr, broken down as an economical Purchasing -medium. Taking these 'counts in order, it should be noted that the crime committed bv the penny is that it is one twelfth part, not one 'tenth part of a shilling. All easy reckoning is ilorio in tenths, i.e., on the", decimal system. .Most civilised nations therefore have adopted this system. What tho Association of .Chambers of Commerce propose, in, order to bring us into line with civilisation, is to divide the, ,!.' sterling into ;ono.' thousand parts, to lx> called "mils," instead of, as at present, into 980 parts railed farthings.- The coin that would take tho place of the penny would be a 1-mil niece, of just a trifle less than"tho penny value (to b? pr»cise, .1)0(1.). ' Next above that-would conic--a new nickel coin—the ]lf-mil--worth. nearly 2M„ and from this point upwards tho' differences'in coinitio vnluo would cease. The silver coins would be a quarter florin' (25 rails, or exactly. sixnence). a hnlf-floi'iu or shilling, a florin, and n douWe. florin, nr fmiv-eliil'inc ni"ce, cnnnl to 200 "ni'ls.;" The half-crown/would disinnsar; gold or notes would remain exactly ns nt present. Sums of money would be expressed in pounds, florins and mils. Simpler Addition. Apart from t*p fact tint this svstem of tenths would nmke the interchange of Tlug li ' i li. and forejen. money very much easier, there would be' immense saving of time effected in 'adding nr> money; columns,- the balance from one column being .merely- carried on to the npxt without division bv twelve or fwenfv. This enn be bv working out (he two followinir addition sums tor the same amount, th" columns of mi's and pence bcinf niade to correspond as nearly as possible:— £ FJorins. M'lf. £ fi. <1. 6 -12 12 101 t ' SB 8 !> 1 '' 2 ?R '' I.' * 7 ' 9 31 18 "I .£3 2 37 .€3 . 4 101, On the second ronnt. it is merelv necessary to observe that to the inOx'bililv of the penny is largely due the difficulty of fairly adinstine food prices to war conditions. Many hslf-nenny goods have gone to the penny and many pennygoods to three-halfpence on this account. With one, two, four and ten mil niece', in general circulation it would he mnch easier for the consumer fo. secure justice. OV.-ioii-;v in this metier, as in others, the wa,r"offers a unique opportunity for reform. I