Dollar Bill and Australians Keep The Wheels Of Industry Turning

[averyhse]

"£1=$2" It's their policy of Australian decimalisation. UK and Ireland (now use the euro since 2002) keep their pound, while they redivided the pound into 100 pence instead of 20 shillings and then subdivided into 12 pence.

[0m4lley]

Forty six years of decimal currency! Yeah!! Happy 14th of February (again)

[Doryphoroi]

The ditty is so ridiculously catchy. I heard it in a museum a few weeks back, and I'm still humming it unconsciously.

[kmfw72]

@Doryphoroi If you think that's catchy, listen to the one that South Africa used in 1961- 'Decimal Dan, the Rand- Cent Man, gives you cents for pennies whenever he can...' - it's on the British Pathé site.

[KaleunMaender77]

@mahalaS100 The US was always decimal. When they became independent they also changed to the dollar.

[averyhse]

@KaleunMaender77 I disagreed with you. US decimalized their dollar. Formerly, they use Spanish dollar, which divided into 8 bits.

[woohooboy]

I'm amazed that it took us so long to convert to decimal currency when most other countries had done it before us. That being said, the old system needed to be scrapped. Too cumbersome and complicated......

[Rx224]

@woohooboy It wasn't all that complicated if you grew up with it.

[woohooboy]

@Rx224 - Perhaps, but for those that didn't grew up with this currency it just seemed more complicated that the current system we have now. Long story short, the change was needed.....

[Rx224]

@woohooboy Bob Menzies wanted to call it "The Royal" instead of the Dollar.

[gnhansen29]

I didn't know that the advertisement was in colour.

[rawstatic]

I loved this :)

[aqav2617]

best valentine day present ever :D

haha

[iMythD]

Entertaining and I learnt a lot!

[princess435010]

@oooooooooooooopps I found it easy !

[elton1981]

I when I went to Australia in 1980 that the coins were mostly the sane size and value as British ones. So a 1c was the same size and value as a 1/2p 2c, 1p 10c, 5p 20c, 10p $1 50p (ok the $1 was round and a 50p wasn't) $2, £1

The only problem was if you accidentally mixed your change. I remember handing over a 2/- coin (which were still circulating as 10p in Britain at the time) and getting a funny look. Much lol-age

[TheTetheredNoob]

@elton1981 haha i live in the UK and I accidentally use Australian $2 coins all the time.... xD

[ooooooooooooooopppps]

I found this moderately hard to masturbate to.

[Sulup]

They had to choose Valentines day to change the national currency? As if us guys didn't have enough on our plates that day? :(

[TheStoryOfJohnny]

HAhahaha this is BRILLIANT!

[dOnTaPPrOaChMe1]

I got bored within seconds. Is that why I failed school?

[kelvingodde]

@dOnTaPPrOaChMe1 Yes... Thats exactly why you failed school

[RuneCreators]

when is this happenning i can't Wait=D

[yamum0433]

thumbs up if u want australia to get rid of shit like 5cents

[mechanismtrance]

2:08 Thumbs up for Housewives!! LOL

[thehughis]

Luckily those house wives will be able to convert money now. Because they are dumb hahahaha

[concubinage]

50 cents back then was worth a lot more than what its worth today!!!

[creole1234]

These coins are worth about $10-$20 now. We own some of them!.

[PattomanLimboski]

@creole1234

They are a dime a dozen and only worth bullion value. And being legal tender and only 80% silver good luck trying to melt them down.

You essentially have a couple of 50-cent pieces

[whoiscraig]

It's not a spiney ant-eater on the 5 cent coin! It's an echidna!

[181stTIE]

Quite a well created ad for that time, very clever.

[MissPonderosa]

Housewives reference...urrhh definitely 1965 - -''

and that 50c looks weird circular lol...

[camandhayley]

The 50c used to be round?

[PattomanLimboski]

@camandhayley

Yes, only minted on 1966. Phased out because the silver content made the production cost close to 50 cents in itself

[biggestmiddy]

ZOMG THE 50 CENT COIN WAS ORIGINALLY COMPLETELY ROUND

[chrisdeimos]

spiny ant eater....

[mollyrulz9999]

Those round 50 cent coins would be valuable collectors items now, considering they weren't around for very long after decimal currency arrived in Australia.

[PattomanLimboski]

@mollyrulz9999

No they are not. As common as house flies

[mollyrulz9999]

@PattomanLimboski really? I haven't seen any until seeing this video. A mate of mine has 2, but no-one's mentioned them to me ever. Hmm... must be in a shitty place to find them XD

[RukiaKuchiki3008]

my maths teacher showed my class this vid on the 14th February 2010 and now we bother her with this song its fun ^_^

[MrBingLee]

i like the fact that the .50 cents actually had some silver in them back in the day, good thing i have bunch of them.

[MidgetmaniaRIP]

Why did they change 50c from circular shape to octagon?

[Karl0010]

I was around then and remember seeing that ad on TV, although not in colour.

[Aussiegirl265]

HAHHAHAH I feel sorry for my dad having to learn a new currency system.

[Chaedhin]

I want a round 50c piece lol.

[fanofsongs]

@Chaedhin me too

[mryellow123]

@Chaedhin How much you wanna pay? :-)

Don't think they're overly rare but got one here somewhere.

[BoredGingo]

@Chaedhin i haz them, =)

[whickystix]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[DirtyDubstepSoldier]

wtf am i watching

[RandomBosnian]

why am i watching this?

[PattomanLimboski]

@RandomBosnian

why were you born?

[stoogemaster7000]

hahaha WHAT A HEAD

[giraffesdontgomoo]

Spiny ant-eater = echidna

[0verk1ll]

@giraffesdontgomoo Yeah. I was wondering why they called it that... Kind of silly.

[fanofsongs]

A round 50c? I didn't know that..cool

[BoredGingo]

@fanofsongs if i remember right, round 50c coins were only around in 1966

[fanofsongs]

@BoredGingo weird..

[Ken69a]

@fanofsongs Yes. We had the round coin up until 1969, and then the 12 sided coin replaced it. You can still find the round coin time to time.

It was thought the round coin was to much the same as the 20 cent coin. Making it hard for people (more so visionally impaired) to tell the difference.

[lawlers69]

@fanofsongs Check EBay for what they are worth, silver content is worth more than face valve of coin

[Fenizrael]

So when were the 1c and 2c pieces introduced, as well as $1 and $2?

[ScarletBlack1]

O_O My class watched this at my old school! Rofl

[CyReNiUsX]

Wow the coins haven't changed since 1966.

[Fenizrael]

@CyReNiUsX Just wait until Elizabeth II is succeeded.

[MrMeanieAu]

need to return to the gold standard i say.

[Dredger1401]

1 person still can't understand decimal currency.

[Nagasaski]

That makes cents!!! =)

[cunt3d]

seriosuly, fuck the pound sterling

[Aznganxter1]

Too bad the 5c is gonna be gone :(

[kiltsonfire164]

@Aznganxter1 There are currently no plans for the 5c being scrapped.

[Aznganxter1]

@kiltsonfire164 they said the 5c coin is nearly costing as much to make then its actual value

[horselady41]

why is the 50c round?

[FlowermanThe]

@horselady41 Probably to keep consistency of shapes throughout the coins.

[hardcoreharro]

@horselady41 The original 50 cent piece was round but due to confusion with the 20 cent piece being a smaller but similar size, they changed the 50 cent piece to the design we have today.

[TheRhombusFactory]

I really like this ad.

[frpetermark]

I remember my Granny grumbling about 'losing tuppence'; i.e. 12 pennys to a bob (a shilling) versus 10 cents for a 10c piece. And as a kid I lost big-time, no more ha'penny bags of mixed lollies or even 3d for an icey-pole on my way home from school. They went up to 5c. It was a funny time then, even to a school kid like myself, the winds of change were palatable. Menzies left the "stage", & then it was All The Way with LBJ, conscription, war in South Vietnam & Yank GIs here on R&R, Holt drowns.

[tashage]

I didn't realise the designs on the coins have been the same for 45 years! We should have new ones :)

I also had no idea the 50 cent piece used to be round!

Why didn't they show the $1 and $2 coins? Did they have notes for them?

[Gnomeslayer778]

@tashage The 1 dollar and 2 dollar were notes back then... idk why they turned them to coins tho, they were much better off as notes.. Unless it was cheaper to make coins over notes .. :D

[mryellow123]

@Gnomeslayer778 I believe it might have been related to inflation and too many $1-2 notes being used, too much mess in wallet.

[PattomanLimboski]

@Gnomeslayer778

And there's your explanation. Cost.

[richkawaiipikachu]

@tashage Well I believe we used to have $1 $2 notes instead but they were swapped with coins at the same time when the government ditch 1 & 2 cent coins in the early 90's.

Funny how times change over the years.

[YourFateMyDestiny]

Dollar Bill reminds me of Kevin Rudd.

[cmdrstabbenslash]

I have an entire predecimal coin and note proof set :)

[carpau0]

I saw this video at the museum of currency in Sydney (part of the reserve bank building) last year and it was on a timer and played every few minutes or so...crapped myself when this film started up cause I didn't see the screen it was playing on (other side of the exhibit)...and it sounds really odd without seeing the accompanying film...God bless the 60's!!

I'm really glad that Australia went to decimal...looks way easier!!

[jayhess69]

1861 during the Civil War mahala2345. Until then they used a mix of paper money from revolutionary days

[jayhess69]

about $12 these days rolf3y

[jayhess69]

The round fifty only lasted a year. It was replaced with the 12-sided because the 'roundie' was made of 80% silver and became more valuable as silver bullion than as a 50cent piece. A bit short-sighted...

[crossova13]

That house wife had the biggest ass.

[arsenalsoccer2]

when did the 50c peice stop being round?

[rolf3y]

i own a round 50c piece from 1966.

wonder how much its worth

[Hunkyfish20]

1:55..... ahahaha! NEW ZEALAND!!! XD

[mahala2345]

when did the US go decimialised

[BlackMariaDownUnder]

plus sadimgnik, the 3d was half silver so worth way more than its face value today

[hebneh]

When I visited in Australia in 1991 I remember being told that some old people even then still referred to coins by their pre-decimal names.

[jazzx251]

That means the last country to change was the UK.

We changed in 1971

What gets me is that "pence" was represented by a "d". Whose bright idea was this stupidly complicated pre-decimal currency?

Only the British ...

[BryanLikesCandy]

@jazzx251 The 'd' stands for 'dinari', which was the standard Roman unit in the Roman Empire. The British Pound System, as well as other European currencies, were based on the Roman system. Just goes to show just how widespread the Roman influence travels.

[PattomanLimboski]

@jazzx251

I believe the Kiwi's and the Brits were waiting to see how the Aussies did it and learn from there.

The Aussie changeover was done so well (the Dollar Bill campaign a big part of this) that the changeover period ended well ahead of schedule.

[jjovereats]

Great!

The £p will replace £sd in 1971 lol.

[BooksAndWriters]

Okay, let's credit the writer of the words to the jungle: Ted Roberts.

[UncleGweilo]

Happy 45th Birthday to the little Aussie dollar!

[sadimgnik5]

I learned 2 valuable lessons on Feb 14 1966.

I exchanged a 3d piece for a bright, shiny new 2c piece, to see what it looked like.

Then, I tried to buy 3 cobbers (lollies) - which were one-a-penny, or one-a-cent.

They said I could only have two, since I'd already exchanged my 3d for a 2c.

Lesson 1 - let the buyer beware.

So, instead, I took the 2c outside - and traded it with a schoolmate for a 3d.

Then went in and got my 3 cobbers.

Lesson 2 - there's a sucker born every minute!

[bluddimess]

@sadimgnik5 Pretty sure they had 1c coins as well back then, bro. Coll story but...

[blackmancer]

@sadimgnik5  Lesson 3 - there's an asshole born every minute as well

[0m4lley]

Forty Seven years of Decimal Currency! Happy 14th of February!

[GetABrainYouTwerp]

@0m4lley *Forty five

[0m4lley]

@GetABrainYouTwerp Whoops! Your name is suprisingly fitting.

[GetABrainYouTwerp]

@0m4lley Haha, yeah, I was really frustrated that day. Hope it didn't seem too harsh. :)

[Ashbury2193]

@derfuhrer881 No. The cartoon character was called Dollar Bill but the currency notes are still called notes. The name "Dollar Bill" was a play on the US usage of the word, of course.

[wadjela]

I can't believe this is in colour, didn't come in till the 1980s.

Thanks FilmAustralia, great to see your presence here.

[anthrass]

@wadjela Colour TV commenced in 1975 in Australia but the colour version of this ad was shown in the cinemas - there was still a B&W version shown on TV..

[MeFrom07]

Nice to see the colour version of this commercial.