Is the peseta still alive and well?

[Bradypus]

I am in a cafe in A Coruña getting ready to fly home. It is a time warp experience - stuck in the 1970's in decor and feel. Fairly posh with waiters in black tie at 10am. But the real gem is my bill. Has the conversion rate between the euro and the peseta printed on it. I thought the peseta died in 2002! Is it still fighting for life in the provinces?

 

[wayfarer]

You will still find this dual billing in France and in some parts of Spain. We were given a few weeks to get used to the change to the Euro, France especially has clung to Franc in both the local markets and on receipts.

 

[ivar]

There are still a lot of people that still "think" in pesetas. Especially the older generations. So it might be a service to them... or maybe they just have not figured out how to configure the receipt printer

 

[Tia Valeria]

Like we still think in feet and inches, pounds and ounces etc but transfer to metres and kilos etc on the Camino, or maybe they are waiting to get the peseta back.

 

[Bradypus]

There are still a lot of people that still "think" in pesetas. Especially the older generations. So it might be a service to them...

That makes sense. I can just remember decimalisation in Britain in the late 1960s. Those who think we Brits are eccentric now should remember that we used to divide the Pound into 20 shillings, with 12 pennies in each shilling. Therefore 244 pence in £1. You would find prices like £1.12s6d. A lot of people resisted the decimal system because they thought having the Pound divided into 100 pence was far too complicated

 

[spursfan]

That makes sense. I can just remember decimalisation in Britain in the late 1960s. Those who think we Brits are eccentric now should remember that we used to divide the Pound into 20 shillings, with 12 pennies in each shilling. Therefore 244 pence in £1. You would find prices like £1.12s6d. A lot of people resisted the decimal system because they thought having the Pound divided into 100 pence was far too complicated

There were 240 old pennies in one pound - and I remember that the price of a Mars bar went from 9 old pennies to 4 new pence (equivalent of 9.6 old pennies)
£1 12s 6d is a perfectly fine old price since there was a half crown coin (worth 2s 6d)

 

[Bradypus]

There were 240 old pennies in one pound

You are right of course. A typo on my part - apologies! Lots of reports of over-zealous "rounding up" at the time. Isn't it odd that it is always the Mars bar we use to compare things? And that we so often use "the size of Wales" when we talk about big chunks of land. Some things just stick in the mind.

 

[SabsP]

I also still think in euros time to time and I am ' only ' 46. Especially when buying expensive stuff.
Oh where are the times when we drove to Spain and had to buy french francs and spanish pesetas. Felt so much more as a real holiday and adventure. And the border control...

 

[Bradypus]

I worked in Germany in the days before the euro. Had to pass - very quickly - through the Netherlands and Belgium on the way to France and the Channel Tunnel. I still remember the grim stares from cleaners at the toilets in service stations if I mistakenly put small change from a neighbouring country in the near-mandatory "tips" bowl

 

[Tincatinker]

I was working in a cider-house in Somerset (The Red Lion at Draycott - sadly gone) on Decimalisation Day. The price of the local 'rough' cider 10d a pint. That evening 'Ma' was asked what was the price of a pint now? 10 pence she said. Uproar ensued. Ma stuck to her guns. Many stormed out. Some, muttering handed over 10 (new) pence, two old shillings 24 old pence, for their pint. They only stayed for the one. There were threats of a boycott. The place was quiet for a few days but gradually the regulars drifted back. The next nearest pub was a half-hour hike. Within a fortnight patronage was back to normal. "Dunno about a boycott" said 'Ma'. "We're takin' twice what we wus last month".

 

[Bradypus]

That is serious inflation! I remember the TV adverts of the time: "Sixpence is two and a half new pence". Your landlady was charging a conversion rate that even Thomas Cook and Travelex would blush at. Hope the cider dulled the pain

 

[Tincatinker]

Shipham 'psychedelic'. It was later alleged that the high Cadmium levels in the local soils contributed to its 'mind-altering' tendencies. Add the Lead in the water and in the Pewter tankards everyone drank from and there is probably no wonder that everyone forgot what all the fuss was about.

 

[kmrice]

£1 12s 6d is a perfectly fine old price since there was a half crown coin (worth 2s 6d)

But, there was no whole crown coin, which I always found to be confusing.

 

[spursfan]

But, there was no whole crown coin, which I always found to be confusing.

There was a whole crown but it was large and issued rarely (usually only at the start of each reign) - the last crown was issued in 1965 in honour of Sir Winston Churchill

 

[fraluchi]

[...] But the real gem is my bill. Has the conversion rate between the euro and the peseta printed on it. I thought the peseta died in 2002! Is it still fighting for life in the provinces?

This is not limited to Spain. Other EU countries also show their past currencies to compare with Euros in their bank, tax, pension funds etc. statements. Just in case they might follow the tendency of the British vs the EU .....

 

[kmrice]

There was a whole crown but it was large and issued rarely (usually only at the start of each reign) - the last crown was issued in 1965 in honour of Sir Winston Churchill

Didn't know that; thanks for the information. I guess they weren't in general circulation very much.

 

[t2andreo]

...and then there are the folks who are still pulling pesetas from their mattresses and backyard "coffee can" stashes. Many people did not, and still do not trust the EU or the Euro completely...

 

[naplesdon]

I still remember the stories of Italians driving all over Europe trying to convert their suitcases full of Lira into Euros before they became worthless. I think you only able to do 10,000 Euros at a time.

 

[purplesage]

That makes sense. I can just remember decimalisation in Britain in the late 1960s. Those who think we Brits are eccentric now should remember that we used to divide the Pound into 20 shillings, with 12 pennies in each shilling. Therefore 244 pence in £1. You would find prices like £1.12s6d. A lot of people resisted the decimal system because they thought having the Pound divided into 100 pence was far too complicated

Yes Bradypus, the joys of being non-arithmetical, perhaps !!

 

[Bradypus]

On a good day the brain and the fingers cooperate. Clearly today is one of the other sort. Always found the twelve-times table a challenge

 

[AlanSykes]

France especially has clung to Franc in both the local markets and on receipts.

Where I used to live in southern France, they still used to refer to the "old" franc, worth 1 "new" centime, and phased out in 1960. So if somebody quoted you "un million", you didn't need to faint, it meant 10,000 new francs, or a loaf of bread might be "deux cents balles". When I was visiting old haunts a couple of years ago, people still used old francs to refer to property prices.

Oh, and my local auction mart still sells sheep etc in guineas (£1 1 shilling, or £1.05) - the farmer gets the pound, and the auction house claims the shilling as commission.

 

[Kanga]

We are told that the human brain is constantly changing but it is interesting how deeply ingrained can be the things learned in childhood, and how hard to shift. My mind has coped well with the changes to decimal currency, from pounds and ounces to kilos and grams, and from miles to kilometers. But I still cannot envisage the height of someone police describe as 170cm tall.

 

[domigee]

You will still find this dual billing in France and in some parts of Spain. We were given a few weeks to get used to the change to the Euro, France especially has clung to Franc in both the local markets and on receipts.

And there are still elderly French people who think in 'old French Francs', believe it or not!!!
@alansykes : just seen your post, sorry.

 

[Bradypus]

But I still cannot envisage the height of someone police describe as 170cm tall.

I sympathise. For some reason I can visualise a length of wood in metres easily but not a person's height. More bizarre still is temperature - no problem with in thinking of high temperatures (body heat and above) in C or F. But I can only think of low temperature in C ???

 

[wayfarer]

We are told that the human brain is constantly changing but it is interesting how deeply ingrained can be the things learned in childhood, and how hard to shift. My mind has coped well with the changes to decimal currency, from pounds and ounces to kilos and grams, and from miles to kilometers. But I still cannot envisage the height of someone police describe as 170cm tall.

Same as that for me, everything in metric except feet and inches.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

There is a reason why the "Change management consultant" profession has been created...

 

[oursonpolaire]

I don't think that the peseta is still legal tender but real estate prices are often listed in pesetas & euros. I asked a Spanish friend why this was and she told me that real estate prices were listed in both. I repeated my question, and she repeated her answer. I tried to find out why by asking a Manitoulin-Island-origin friend who has lived in Barcelona for many years and she said that it was clear that they used both pesetas and euros in real estate pricing. Again, I asked why, and got the same response. Wasn't it obvious?

As far as the duodecimal pound was concerned, an Irish doctor friend in Ottawa received a letter from Ireland last year with a 90p stamp and declared her shock that a simple letter now took 18 shillings! I sympathized with her, saying that nine florins was a lot of money.

 

[Kiwi-family]

But I still cannot envisage the height of someone police describe as 170cm tall.

Half an inch taller than me;-) (seriously)

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I do height in meters, distance in km, but have no idea what a kg is, unless it's meant to be the weight of a liter of water. Don't ask about ounces though.

 

[C3 to Camino]

I sympathise. For some reason I can visualise a length of wood in metres easily but not a person's height. More bizarre still is temperature - no problem with in thinking of high temperatures (body heat and above) in C or F. But I can only think of low temperature in C ???

Go someplace really, really cold. -40 is the same in C and F!

 

[Saint Mike II]

... or maybe they are waiting to get the peseta back.

What a bit like the Greeks hoping for the return of the good old days of the "drachma"?

 

[Saint Mike II]

I do height in meters, distance in km, but have no idea what a kg is, unless it's meant to be the weight of a liter of water. Don't ask about ounces though.

OK - one kilogram is equal to 2.2 lbs (pounds); a liter/litre of water weights one kilogram; 3.2808 ft equals one metre; and one English Gallon is 4.546 litres (I think, from distant memory, a US gal is 3.96 litres).
As far back as the early 1980's you could buy a calculator with all the metric/imperial conversions. I bought one for a friend who was a stock & station agent (when dealing with the old farmers he had to talk in pounds when referring to cattle weight and with the markets in kilograms).
Now if England and the US would only join the System International (metric world) life would be a whole lit simpler. But that's just my poor Aussie opinion. Cheers

 

[Bradypus]

Now if England and the US would only join the System International (metric world) life would be a whole lit simpler. But that's just my poor Aussie opinion. Cheers

England (and Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland too) have mostly joined in. Most of our goods are bought and sold by the kg or the metre. But we hang on to a few imperial oddities just to keep the rest of the world on its toes. Clothes are mostly measured in inches. Petrol is sold in litres but road distances are displayed in miles. Incidentally we still drive our cars on the proper side of the road and have the driver's seat on the right-hand side. Most important of all I think the Winter Olympics will be staged in hell before the British can be persuaded to walk up to a bar and order 0.5682612L of beer

 

[Anemone del Camino]

OK - one kilogram is equal to 2.2 lbs (pounds); a liter/litre of water weights one kilogram; 3.2808 ft equals one metre; and one English Gallon is 4.546 litres (I think, from distant memory, a US gal is 3.96 litres).
As far back as the early 1980's you could buy a calculator with all the metric/imperial conversions. I bought one for a friend who was a stock & station agent (when dealing with the old farmers he had to talk in pounds when referring to cattle weight and with the markets in kilograms).
Now if England and the US would only join the System International (metric world) life would be a whole lit simpler. But that's just my poor Aussie opinion. Cheers

Saint Mike, aren't there 2 different gallon sizes as well? US and UK? Let's not forget the yard, pint, miles, and the Farenheits. Funny, if you buy a car in the US it only shows your speed in miles per hour, but cars sold in Canada show both miles and km, but temp is only shown in C.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Try buying fencing wire (chicken or pig netting)! In many countries it is still sold by metre length and inches (pulgas) wide

 

[jbear]

Most U.S. Cars show both MPH & km/h. They have since the 1980s, it just wasn't consistent. The first car I had with the dual markings was a 1982 Chevy Camaro. On new cars it's all digital, just push the button for the one you want.

However, they dual markings don't do much good. Almost all our signs are exclusively in miles, feet, and MPH. Back in the '70s & '80s some states had both on their signs, but you don't see that anymore.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Saint Mike, aren't there 2 different gallon sizes as well? US and UK? .

Please have a closer look at my post - you will see that I have included both US & Imperial Gal conversions to the litre. Cheers

 

[Saint Mike II]

Try buying fencing wire (chicken or pig netting)! In many countries it is still sold by metre length and inches (pulgas) wide

The size of TV & computer screens is the one that really throws me - around 99% of these items (sold in Oz) come from countries that have "never" used feet/inches etc yet they continue to quote these screen sizes in inches. Can someone please explain?? Thanks

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Always worth having a few pesetas in your pocket - you never know when you might get lost . . .

The little one, a 5 peseta coin, was known as a duro

 

[jbear]

Try buying fencing wire (chicken or pig netting)! In many countries it is still sold by metre length and inches (pulgas) wide

Oh, and tires! Rim diameter in inches and the rest in mm.

 

[tpmchugh]

I am in a cafe in A Coruña getting ready to fly home. It is a time warp experience - stuck in the 1970's in decor and feel. Fairly posh with waiters in black tie at 10am. But the real gem is my bill. Has the conversion rate between the euro and the peseta printed on it. I thought the peseta died in 2002! Is it still fighting for life in the provinces?
View attachment 24306

As far as I know, all currencies in the EU are still technically valid although not for use by the public. If you have for instance a bunch of Irish Punts you can still bring them to the bank to get Euros. There is an official exchange rate. If however you have Punts in coinage, you can only take them to the central bank in Dublin. I believe the same applies for all countries in the Euro Zone

 

[Californian Hobo]

Always worth having a few pesetas in your pocket - you never know when you might get lost . . .

The little one, a 5 peseta coin, was known as a duro


View attachment 24354

Of course, once you would reach Galicia, a "duro" was called a "peso" (in Gallego).
En Galiza en galego!