A little piece of Guernsey history surfaced in the heart of York last weeknd when I found this silver threepenny piece for sale in a city centre vintage shop. The 1956 coin, with its unusual 12-sided scalloped edge, had been made into a necklace, presumably for visitors who liked to keep an eye on their money...
It features a Guernsey cow on one side and the three lions from the Royal Standard on the other - showing that islanders are still proud to be a part of Great Britain. Having done a bit of research I've discovered that these 'polygonal' coins were made of copper-nickel, 21mm in diameter and 1.5m thick - probably a different take on our own good old 'thrupenny bit.'
York Minster
Talking of France, I discovered that York is twinned with Dijon, in the Burgundy region to the South-east of Paris, which is famous, of course, for making mustard. I bet it aint 'arf hot over there...
4 comments:
I still have a couple of these coins lurking in a jar somewhere amongst a selection of farthings, sixpences and other such obsolete currency. Although they won't buy much these days, they are still attractive and have a certain charm don't they?
Never mind the charm - get them out girl and stick them on a silver chain. Vintage shops eat your heart out...
We were in York briefly last wed on our way back to Sussex after holidaying in Whitby in north Yorkshire-we had looked in many vintage shop windows on our travels and had seen many charming things -but not a guernsey thrupeny bit in sight ah well .
Sorry - I beat you to it!
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