Tickies in the mid to late 1960's

[GROOVIE COINS 4]

Hello all

I've always accepted that the first decimal series circulated between 1961 and 64 with the introduction of the new series the next year. My mother (she was born Dec 62) has memories of her grandmother baking cake with tickies in it, and always tells me tales about how my aunt (Gosh I think my aunt was born in 65) and her would scrabble through the cake looking for their surprise in order to run off to the shop. This I always dismissed, saying that she would have only been 2 years old by the time tickies were removed from circulation and must be confusing tickies with second decimal 5 cents. She's always been adamant about her story though and I've heard it numerous times.

Upon browsing on BOB I came across a 1965 circulated 1cent with the heading claiming it being rare as only 1000 or so with minted for circulation, and that got me thinking that the transition series must have circulated well into 1965 as even though the second series saw introduction that year, it was only minted in large numbers in 66. 

Now I wonder if my mom's story isn't so far fetched after all. Does anybody know if tickies (or in fact any first decimal series coins) circulated after 1965 into the late 60's perhaps; and if so were they still accepted as stores, banks, etc...?

Regards Robert

[Pierre_Henri 35]

Hi there

The tickeys did not have to be in circulation to be added to the cake - your grandmother could have kept the tickeys in a cookie jar for a few years and just add them to the cakes she baked as the years progressed.

Regarding the period those coins circulated - here are some info - just scroll down and you will find some info on that period in our numismatic heritage ...

Kind regards

Pierre

 

 

[GROOVIE COINS 4]

Thank you for your response Pierre, I found the topic chain very informative. Especially where you mention that the brass cents circulated well into the 70's. It makes sense (pun!) why on average, the brass cents tend to be much more worn down compared to their silver counterparts. Though coppers see more circulation in anycase (What was the coin's response to the note's boast about being in all the big fancy hotels and casinos? I'm in church every Sunday!), their wear could never be explained by just four years of circulation. 

As for my great granny, she was an avid coin collector. A biscuit tin was passed down to my uncle, then me (mostly pennies and 1st dec. a tickey, six pence here and there), with my addition being the odd 2nd decimal that I by chance come across. Unfortunately the collection was stolen when our house was burgled years ago, something I'm still regretful about. So I don't doubt that she baked cake with tickies, but as for my mom spending it as a little girl, I'm not so sure though... Hence my wondering if tickies still changed hands into the very late 60's. But as you have pointed out the wear on the silver first series suggests they were removed soon after 64/5.

On a side note though with referrence to your comment in the topic regarding Roman coppers being handed out in the trenches of WW1 with there weight and size deeming them acceptable, I couldn't help but think of a similar occurence I noticed  from Americans today. I always enjoy watching coin collecting or unwrapping videos as they call it on youtube, where collectors buy rolls of nickels, pennies or dimes from the banks and search through them for key dates, or silver. A common thing I noticed from all these unwrapping videos is a foreign coin, whether it be British, European, Canadian, etc would always come out of these rolls. Keeping in mind that these are rolls of crculated coins that move through the banking system, where every so now and then you'd get a krone, or 5 pence for example. Once I went as far as to make the comment that 'you Americans aren't fussy on coins hey? As long as it's roughly the same size and has a 10 on it, it's as good as a dime.' To which the response was 'It's considered funny money, but still changes hands'

The concept of exchanging old or foreign money might seem strange (I most certainly do), but at the end of the day some people look past the face of the coin and at the metal. In a sense, coin collectors do the same, still trading coins long since out of circulation.

[Little Miss Muffet 41]

Tickies were wrapped in paper and put into Christmas cake.My Grandmother did this every year and probably made sure the kids got the slice with the hidden tickey,as I never failed to find one.I cannot remember whether it continued after 1961 with the tickey out of circulation.

My aunt always included a 5/- in our Christmas presents which we had to deposit in  our locked bank money boxes at home

 

[GROOVIE COINS 4]

Thank you for sharing. It's a pity the tradition has been lost, probably because our coins aren't silver anymore. I remember for my 8th birthday, my mom stuck 8 rands (the little nickel coins) in the shape of a number 8 in a card. Looking back the gift was simple because times were tough, but at the time I felt like a millionaire!