There was a lot of love in Australia on this day. It wasn’t only Valentine’s Day, but the day that the currency changed from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents. The campaign to educate everyone was very successful and centre-stage was the “Dollar Bill” cartoon character, who was everywhere, even on TV ads and radio. These are the words from the famous jingle:
In come the dollars and in come the cents
to replace the pounds and the shillings and the pence.
Be prepared folks when the coins begin to mix
on the 14th of February 1966.
Clink go the cents folks
clink, clink, clink. Changeover day is closer than you think.
Learn the value of the coins and the way that they appear
and things will be much smoother when the decimal point is here.
In come the dollars and in come the cents
to replace the pounds and the shillings and the pence.
Be prepared folks when the coins begin to mix
on the 14th of February 1966.
Dollar Bill Decimal Currency Jingle (circa 1965) sung to the tune of “Click go the Shears”. Lyrics written by Ted Roberts. (Museum of Australian Currency Notes, Reserve Bank of Australia)
Click on the following link to watch a video clip of one of the TV ads used in the decimal currency educational campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZTeWLA1LAs
Happy 14 February 2014! Give a book on Valentine’s Day!