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 Replies: 38 / Views: 23,913 |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1699 Posts |
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$20 is a Lobster That's the only one I've ever heard.
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Valued Member
Australia
95 Posts |
Not sure if these terms are regional or not. Lobster, Pineapple and Avocado were common in QLD - Brisbane in the mid to late 90's
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
slang:
in my travels, I have observed that in Sydney, they are much more specific, and $20 is a "Rock lobster", not a lobster simpliciter, as it is elsewhere.
I've heard the $50 referred to as a "Golden pineapple" in Darwin.
I haven't heard any other terms in recent years.
David UK: £500 a monkey - I recall that being used in Australia, in the pre-decimal era, generally in the context of betting on horses. My Dad took me to the races every week when I was a kid. I remember "monkeys" being discussed, and I was hopeful that we might take one home for a pet ... but they always seemed to "escape" before the day was done.
In the pre-decimal era, in Australia, a "dollar" was five shillings. So, in 1966, it was confusing when a dollar was defined by law as equating to ten shillings. What I didn't realize until a few years ago, when I got into collecting older coins, was that 200 years ago, a dollar was five shillings, and it retained that meaning upto 1966.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
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New Member
Australia
25 Posts |
I was told there was a british 4 pence, did Australians ever use that at one point?
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Formerly nancyc
Australia
5226 Posts |
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I was told there was a british 4 pence, did Australians ever use that at one point? The 4 pence coin was called a Groat, and was never used in Australia as far as I am aware.  http://www.coins-of-the-uk.co.uk/fourd.html
life is a mystery to be lived not a problem to be solved
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
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David UK: £500 a monkey - I recall that being used in Australia, in the pre-decimal era, generally in the context of betting on horses. My Dad took me to the races every week when I was a kid. I remember "monkeys" being discussed, and I was hopeful that we might take one home for a pet ... but they always seemed to "escape" before the day was done. 
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1882 Posts |
In the 1950s and 60s in Britain, 5 shillings (25p) was a dollar, and 2s 6d (12 1/2p) was 'half a dollar).
I can remember going to the market, the stall-holders' common cries were 'only 'alf a dollar'.
The exchange rate of 4 dollars to the pound sterling went all the way back to 1804 when the Bank of England counterstamped Spanish or Spanish-American coins of 8 reales (dollars) as 5 shilling coins.
I think in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia, a 'ticky' was the name for 3 pence.
Life Fellow, Royal Numismatic Society My wants list: http://goccf.com/t/283145 |
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Valued Member
United States
108 Posts |
Easy to remember: old (LSD) was 240 pence/pound, decimal is 200 new pence. Shilling becomes 10c, florin is 20c, etc.
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Valued Member
Australia
95 Posts |
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I bet Australian fifth-graders knew all these terms, too ACTUALLY... this is now apart of the new grade four curriculum   .
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Valued Member
United States
201 Posts |
I believe Australian £1 was "devalued" in the late 1920s in order to export cheaply to the UK by one of the treasurers or was it a PM? Prior to this, Australian £ was on par with £ sterling because of it being a British colony then still linked to the UK due to the economic ties.
Up to 1966, British pound is worth Australian £1/5/0. Australian dollar was linked to the US dollar for a short time after Australia left sterling area. That means the Australian dollar was linked to sterling for some time prior to the UK's devaluation on their £ sterling.
That is from my memory.
My dad used to tell me that 2/6 was half a dollar when he was a lad in Belfast. Usually people would say 2 and 6 or very rarely half crown.
I always wanted to know why 2/6 coins were not minted in Australia. Is there any particular reason?
Edited by Carrigna
12/01/2017 9:49 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
923 Posts |
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I always wanted to know why 2/6 coins were not minted in Australia. Is there any particular reason? My guess is that cause of the non-usage of the crown coins, 1937 crowns for the public, however that just an assumption I'm making. Still curiously across the ditch in New Zealand they did produce half crowns.
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Moderator
United States
94180 Posts |
Thanks for the bump, ryurazu, a nice terminology refresher.  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3938 Posts |
I find it funny that in the 50s and 60s, 2/6 was call "half a dollar". In the late 1940s the UK pound was devalued so that 2/6 was closer to 30 cents.
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Formerly nancyc
Australia
5226 Posts |
There is a mixture of GB, NZ and Australian coin info in this thread.  GB stuff doesn't really belong here, they have a separate section. life is a mystery to be lived not a problem to be solved
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Replies: 38 / Views: 23,913 |
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Posted 07/27/2012 07:50 am
