Currency Act 1982 facts for kids
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| Long title | An Act to replace section 1(1) of the Decimal Currency Act 1967 so as to sanction references to the new penny as the penny. |
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| Citation | 1982 c. 3 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Commencement | 2 February 1982 |
| Other legislation | |
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Status: Current legislation
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Currency Act 1982 is a special law made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It helped update how we talk about money in the UK. This Act made sure that the words used for coins matched what people actually said every day.
Contents
Why Was the Currency Act 1982 Needed?
Before 1971, the UK used a different money system. One pound sterling was equal to 20 shillings. Each shilling had 12 pennies. This was quite complicated!
The Big Change: Decimal Day
On 15 February 1971, the UK changed to a simpler system. This day was called Decimal Day. After this, one pound was divided into 100 "new pennies." This made it much easier to count money.
New Coins and Old Habits
When the new coins came out, they had "New Pence" written on them. For example, a 2p coin said "New Pence." The 1p coin said "New Penny." This helped people get used to the new system.
However, as time went on, people stopped saying "new penny." They just said "penny." By the early 1980s, almost everyone just said "penny" instead of "new penny."
What Did the Currency Act 1982 Do?
Because the term "new penny" was part of the law, a new law was needed to change it. The Currency Act 1982 made this change official.
Updating the Law for Everyday Language
This Act updated the old law from 1967. It said that money could be called "the pound sterling and the penny or new penny." This meant that coins could now be printed without the word "New." For example, a 2p coin could just say "Two Pence."
Changing Old Laws
The Act also removed a part of the original 1967 law. This made sure that the legal definition of the penny matched how people spoke.
