Article from Page 1 of the DAILY MIRROR of Monday, February 15, 1971.
ALL CHANGE!
By SALLY MOORE the Mirror's Decimal Watchdog girl.
KEEP your cool. Take your time. And don't let them rush you. That is our advice on this Happy (we hope) D-Day.
Three thousand readers have already had their decimal problems solved by the Mirror Decimal Watchdogs - the best and most active service of its kind in Britain.
Now D-day has arrived. So here is how to get through this historic Monday as painlessly as possible!
To start with, it' all much easier than most people imagine.
1 - TAKE plenty of small change out with you this morning. Soon you'll be paying with decimal bronze coins - ½p, 1p, 2p. But as you haven't got any yet, when you go into decimal shops you will have to pay in £sd amounts made up to the nearest sixpence above the price. That's because sixpence is the lowest £sd sum with EXACT decimal value - 2½p. If you don't pay in 6d units, you'll be diddling yourself becasue the shopkeeper won't be able to give you the correct change.
2 - TAKE your Mirror Shoppers' guide which is printed today on Page 5, if you want to compare the old £sd prices with the new decimal ones. But remember that you cannot use this table to choose whether you pay in £sd or the £p prices. Think - and pay - DECIMAL. Remember also that in decimal shops where you buy several items, like the local newsagents for instance, the shopkeeper must total up each of the items separately in decimals - then charge you the decimal total. He can't just convert the £sd total to decimals.
3 - TAKE your time. If you think a mistake has been made, don't worry about holding up the queue. Ask the cashier immediately. But try not to lose your patience. Most shopkeepers, who have spent a lot of time and money going decimal, intend to play fair - but its likely to be a rather fraught start to the week for them too.
4 - IF you get really confused and decide its all too much for you, pick up the nearest telephone and rinf the Mirror's Decimal Watchdogs. We're here to help you. DIAL (01) 8223962 if you live in these areas: London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Leicester, Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth, Southampton, Wolverhampton. DIAL (061) 8292225 if you live in these areas: Manchester, Belfast, Carlisle, Chester, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, North Wales, Preston, Sheffield. DIAL (041) 2487000 if you live in these areas: Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh.
And good luck!
The Daily Mirror is today priced at 2½ new pence, which is the exact equivalent of the 6d you have been paying. But you can still buy your Mirror - Britain's biggest selling newspaper - with a sixpenny piece which is remaining in circulation.