Old Money

[keepersdaughter]

I've been trying to find the correct conversion from US weight measures to UK, not sure if most people use metric or imperial weight measure nowadays. I'm going to have to dig out my old Boots scale and play in the kitchen for a while. What do most people use nowadays??? Which leads to another thing; I often find myself converting the cost of things from dollars to pounds in my mind - particularly easy right now as the dollar is worth little more than 50p. Then my minds jumps from pounds to old money - which I think changed in about 1972 when things went decimal - why I sometimes still do this I have no idea :confused:. Anyone else still do this? I really do hope the UK doesn't go over to Euros else my mind might explode :D

[Oola]

keepersdaughter I use both grams and ounces, lbs and kgs. It's so half and half here (we travel in miles per hour but fill up in £s per litre and everything is always displayed in metric and imperial) that I'm sort of used to changing measurements. Our digital kitchen scales also have a convert thing from metric to imperial which helps.

You can also use Google - where you usually type your search query you can literally type something like "5g in oz" and it'll calculate it for you with Google calculator

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=5g+in+oz&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

I think it works for just about any measurement. The only US measurements I tend to have trouble with is 'cups' (is it some sort of measure of a certain portion of pints or something?), as I don't think we have an equivalent here. I don't think Google recognises cup measurements either. with its calculator.

[Oola]

And I don't really understand Old Money 12 pence = shilling, 5 shillings is a crown or something...lol. Half a crown, ha'penny, sixpence, and all that. I learned at school but as we always had decimal when I was growing up (born in 82) I've never NEEDED to know. I find it really hard to try and equate the two.

[Ivy]

Being in Germany I am confronted with the Euro but often reconvert Euros into DM (which is double the ammount of the Euro) to find that a bargain suddenly is not as cheap as I thought it was... I find the Euro is a legal form of theft....

[Oola]

Ivy would you prefer to go back to DM or do you find there are definite benefits with the Euro?

[eleanor2]

i am still in lb and ounces i am afraid.i know 25grms is an ounce.but i just can't move on.

[keepersdaughter]

The US cup measure is exactly the problem I'm having trouble converting. I tried google and came up with a few sites. The problem then arises because say 1cup plain flour would be different to wholewheat/meal flour or rice. A cup of butter is different to a cup of sugar and on and on. It was so much easier when things were just plain old imperial. I got a taster for kilograms when we lived in Italy. Distance was kilometers - easy enough to figure out. Didn't get too much into the kilograms things other than I knew how much a litre was, a kilogram about 2lb or so, and I only used to ask for "un etto" - a quarter when I went to the deli. It became quite complicated because we lived in Naples and they spoke in a totally different dialect - I took Italian classes, but they were classic italian - roman. I'll figure it out - I'm trying to put together a few Christmas treat type recipes. Bear with me please.

[Katelb]

You have been around keepers,what an interesting life you must have had if confused at times with metric versus imperial.I often find myself going back from decimal to old money,and when I had my first job as a front hall cashier in a London hotel it was all in old money,all the percentages added to accounts I used to find much easier in old money than I do in decimal currency.That probably sounds crazy to most people,but I never have liked decimal currency.Like you,I think I'll go quite potty if they introduce the euro in this country!!!
Eleanor I'm with you in the lb's and oz's department,I can't cope with kilo's etc.and I still ask for meat or whatever in imperial and will continue to do so.

[Healing Hands]

I just love spending the money...do not have time to convert! I use half and half with grams and ounces and Ibs and Kgs.

Although I hear it is a good time to go to New York Shopping as long as you do not spend over the amount otherwise you get clobbered for duty tax.

Went to New York for lunch sometime ago but never had time to shop, had to fly off to BA.

[dinger]

POUNDS, SHILLINGS,and PENCE

Two farthings would make a ha,penny
two ha,pennies a penny for you
three pennies would come to threepence
or a threepenny bit as we knew
six pennies would make up sixpence
two threepenny bits as well
all were known as a tanner
as any old timer would tell
twelve pennies were worth one shilling
four threepenny bits, two tanners a bob
four tanners, eight three pence, two shillings
all would make a florin job
two and six or a florin and sixpence
would then become half a crown
four half crowns made a ten bob note
two ten bob notes a pound
a pound note and a shilling into a guinea grew
this is old money pounds shillings and pence
I remember it well do you.


This is for you Oola love Dinger

[keepersdaughter]

Dinger that's great, I've never heard it before, did you make it up? When you look at it I suppose it does make metric seem easier. I have a few thruppenny bits, tanners and half-a-crowns somewhere in my drawers.

[Katelb]

Oh dinger what a lovely old rhyme,wherever did you find it? or did you compose it?

[lily]

I take a tape measure shopping if I'm looking for a rug or fabric as I can't quite get to grips with metric. I was suprised to find that my new japanese car gives my average fuel consumption and speed in Imperial, how well they know their market (toyota, beloved of the older driver).

[Oola]

Great poem dinger - might have to learn it parrot fashion ;)

[Oola]

Measurement-wise with feet, inches, cms and metres I'm usually pretty good because I've grown up always using both, so I find it quite easy.

[jazzactivist]

As I was brought up in SA I can only confidently use metric. My family left the UK in 1970when old money was still around, but I was too young to handle very much of it! Andy and I have frequent disagreements when measuring for items for our house, as I do it in metric and can envision it that way, and he does it in imperial. This can lead to big disagreements when we are actually at the point of buying if we haven't been clear about which measurement we are using. I can also envisage a journey much more easily in kilometers than miles.

[sunflower]

I view fabric and wool in metric. cook in imperial. Have to work in metric at work of course, view the weather in Cellius. THEN, when I'm talking with my folks via internet and phone in Canada, and we are talking about buying goods, property etc, I convert that onto Canadian Dollars !!!

[dinger]

Yes it's one of mine .after reading this topic thought it might revive a few memories to some of you

[Oola]

keepersdaughter I've found that one of my measuring jugs has the measurement 'cups' on the side - handy!

[franbee]

I use a mixture of units, mm at work, imperial for sewing, kilometres in France, either metric or imperial weights for cooking, I have a set of each and a balance scale. I brought a set of cups back from America to use with an American cookbook, but they don't convert easily. The best thing is to try and think in those particular units, not to convert. Fran.