Pound coin was introduced 30 years ago
As the humble £1 coin hits turns 30, we look at what it could have bought you back in 1983 - and what it will get you today.
The pound coin was introduced 30 years ago on April 21st 1983.
These days, there are more than 1.5 billion coins in circulation and it’s estimated that around 2.9% are forgeries!
So what could you have bought with a brand new pound coin in 1983?
In 1983, you could have bought:
20 cigarettes
6lbs of frozen chicken
Three loaves of sliced white bread
2.77 litres of petrol
Two pints of London Pride beer
I’m particularly impressed that you could buy a packet of 20 cigarettes for a pound back in ’83. These days, the price is more like £8.
Let’s look at what you can get for a pound these days:
One hour in a car park
One bottle of water from a vending machine
Five trips to a public toilet in London
Three cans of diet coke from Poundland
0.72 litres of petrol
Source: Poundland
Clearly we’ve had to endure a lot of inflation over the last 30 years, and you can’t buy much for a pound in 2013, unless you visit your local pound shop anyway!
That said, when you visit a pound shop, don’t assume that everything is a bargain. For example, a pack of chewing gum can be quite expensive at £1, so you may be better off buying your gum at a supermarket or even at a local corner shop.
You may also find that some products are in smaller sizes than you’d normally find in shops.
More from Lovemoney:
How to spot a fake £1 coin
One in five bank complaints not properly dealt with
Five places where you can get an overdraft for free
You shouldn't protect your no claims bonus
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Chewing gum is most certainly cheaper at 99p Store, and at Poundland. Trident Splash (pack of 3) is £1.32 in supermarkets, or up to 69p each in sweetshops. They sell packs of 3 Orbit Extra as well. I've been regularly buying both for almost a couple of years.
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@Mike10613 That should be Majorite PFI . John Major implemented it in the UK in the early 90's. Blairs' Labour, when they got in, blew it out of all proportion. PFI ended up by being supported by the public purse, which completely defeats the object. A H
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I find these, "You could have bought ..." comparisons somewhat tiring. Far more realistic is to take an the average wage and see how long someone on that wage would have to work to buy various products. A newspaper did that some 35 years ago. If I remember correctly, it was about 50/50 whether items were more time expensive or less. The only one I can remember was that Scotch was cheaper then than on the earlier date used for comparison. Certainly I would find it interesting if you could look into that system of comparison.
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21 April 2013