Introduction
This week's theme for our CST activities page is 'Money Makes The World Go Round' because 'Euro Day' was on 1st January 2022. Also, 'The Royal Mint' has announced the launch of their 2022 coin set.
The first coin is a widely available 50p piece to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in June. The 50p has the number 70 in bold on the reverse of the coin. The commemorative set also includes a £5 coin which features a regal design centralised by the quartered shield of the Royal Arms. On its edge is the inscription ‘SERVE YOU ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE’, in reference to Queen Elizabeth II's longevity as our monarch. The pack also features two new £2 coins to mark the life and legacy of Dame Vera Lynn and Alexander Graham Bell. There is also a 50p coin to commemorate the 'Commonwealth Games', which are coming to Birmingham this summer.
In addition to the new Platinum Jubilee coins, there will be a four-day Bank Holiday weekend. Celebrations across the special weekend will include Trooping the Colour, the lighting of beacons, a Service of Thanksgiving, a Platinum Pageant and a concert making The Queen’s historic reign.
Discussion points:
Ask members who remembers 'Decimal Day' in 1971? How difficult was it swapping over to the new prices on everything?
Does anyone collect coins? Does anyone still have some pre-decimal coins or notes? What about stamp collecting (philately) or any other hobbies?
Do people tend to pay for things with money still, or do they use their bank card to swipe or pay online? When is the last time anyone wrote a cheque?
What do people think of the new polymer bank notes? Has anyone washed one yet and put it through the tumble dryer?
The latest polymer bank £50 note, launched in June 2021, features Alun Turing - the 'Enigma Code' breaker. There are also polymer notes for £5, featuring Sir Winston Churchill, for £10, featuring the author Jane Austen, and for £20, featuring the artist JMW Turner.
Here they are:
The £5 note features Winston Churchill, one of the greatest statesmen of all time, and the only Prime Minister to win the 'Nobel Prize for Literature'. The images on the back of the note show a view of Westminster, home of the UK government, and the Elizabeth Tower (containing the bell 'Big Ben') from London’s South Bank, looking across Westminster Bridge.
The £10 note features the distinguished author Jane Austen. Books by her included 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Mansfield Park', 'Northanger Abbey' and 'Emma'. When it was released in 2016, an artist produced a few notes with a microdrawing of an inscription by Jane Austen on it? The words were, "I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good." These five notes were said to be worth £50,000 each, if you were lucky enough to find one.
J.M.W. Turner features on the £20 note. Turner is perhaps the single most influential British artist of all time. His self-portrait, painted in 1799 and currently on display in the Tate Britain, features on the new note, along with his painting of 'The Fighting Temeraire'; a tribute to the ship which played a distinguished role in Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
The mathematician, computer scientist and 'Enigma Code' breaker Alan Turing features on the new £50 polymer note. He was chosen following a national poll and is recognised not only for his Second World War heroism, but also for the fact that he was a gay man living in a time of prejudice and discrimination, who was chemically castrated as an alternative to prison and died at the age of 41 after taking cyanide.
Finally, we asked if anyone regularly plays 'games' to win money, either 'Bingo', 'The National Lottery', 'The Pools' or 'Premium Bonds'.
We asked members whether anyone had ever had a lucky windfall from one of these, or something else, for example an inheritance?
We went around the room and asked members, if they had £50,000 to spend, what would they do with the money to treat themselves (paying bills was not allowed).
IDIOMS
We asked members to complete the following phrases:
Rich man, poor man, beggar man - THIEF
Money makes the world go - ROUND
Three coins in a - FOUNTAIN
Sound as a - POUND
Treasure - ISLAND
Long John - SILVER
Born with a silver spoon in his - MOUTH
Break the - BANK
Bring home the - BACON
Cash in your - CHIPS
Foot the - BILL
From rags to - RICHES
Sticky - FINGERS
Live hand to - MOUTH
Pay an arm and a - LEG
Penny - PINCHER
Pay a King's - RANSOM
Pick up the - TAB
Pour money down the - DRAIN
Put your money where your - MOUTH IS
Bet your bottom - DOLLAR
Money doesn't grow on - TREES
Strike it - LUCKY/RICH
Money - TALKS
Worth it's weight in - GOLD
On the - HOUSE
Pay - PEANUTS (get monkeys)
Feel like a million - DOLLARS
Bread and - BUTTER
Diamonds are a girl's - BEST FRIEND
Spend a - PENNY
Find a penny pick it up. All day long you'll have - GOOD LUCK
Filthy - RICH
The penny - DROPPED
The love of money is the root of all - EVIL
Money makes the world go - ROUND
This led us to our first song ...
SONG. 'Money, Money, Money, ABBA - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETxmCCsMoD0
Can members think of any slang names for money?
FILTHY LUCRE, DOUGH, DOSH, READIES, SPONDULICKS, WONGA, LOOT, LOLLY
MUSIC & PICTURE QUIZ
We continued with asking the following questions ...
ROUND 1. Old Money
1. What bird was on a 'Farthing' (a quarter of an old penny)?
2. Which character featured on the front of the old 'Penny'?
3. How many sides did an old 'Thrupenny bit' have?
4. Which festive pudding was a 'Sixpence' traditionally baked into?
5. What boy's name was given to a 'Shilling'?
6. How many 'Pennies' were in a 'Shilling'?
7. How many 'Shillings' were there in an old 'Pound'?
8. SONG. 'Penny Lane', The Beatles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-rB0pHI9fU
What would you be doing if you were 'spending a penny'?
ROUND 2. New Money
9. Who is currently Chancellor Of The Exchequer?
10. Where is 'The Royal Mint'?
(Bank notes are produced at 'De La Rue' in Basingstoke.)
11. How many sides does a 50p coin have?
12. How much is £1 worth today, in terms of value, compared to 1971?
13. In which year was the last ha'penny produced?
