I was 11 at the time. I don't believe there was that much resistance to the change, although there was a little confusion e.g. 6 pennies equalled 5 cents. I recall I was working a 'paper boy' selling the evening paper at the local hotel. Gee, that must have been about the 6 o'clock closing time and when the ladies were relegated to the 'ladies lounge'. Not ladieas at the bar please
The paper was 4 cents, I think, because I was happy to receive a 6 pence, or 5 cent piece. The only problems I cam across were:
- One fellow had a handfull of 1 cent pieces, he didn't think much of thethem and asked me if I wanted the. He threw them all on the ground. I picked them up. No problem for me. I think I made a bob out of it (1 shilling, 10 cents)
- The other was a windfall. The cigarette machine didn't like the new 20 cent pieces for some reason. We always pressed the reject button on the way past. Every now and again it would spit out 40 cents. I remember a drunk demanding that I hand over my loot after a few successful raids. The barmaid sorted him out quick smart.
The change over was also very well advertised. I can still remember the jingle, "Out go the pence and in comes the cents, on the 14th of February 1966. As in most cases of change, it is the old that have the most problems.
