The Royal Mint has begun the countdown to the 50th anniversary of D-day . Not the World War II beach landing, that was in 1944, but decimalisation day .
On 15 February 1971, UK coinage was reorganised into the way we know today, with the old system of 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound abolished. Instead, a pound would be worth 100 pence, rather than 240, as it had before.
The UK was slightly behind the curve on this, with Russia introducing a decimalised ruble in 1704 and the US in 1792, while a previous effort to do so in Britain failed in 1824.
The Royal Mint has released a 50p coin to commemorate 50 years since the decimalisation of British coinage in February 1971
The rare coins selling for up to £850 on eBay that could be in your pocket
Kew Gardens 50p coins and Commonwealth Game £2 coins sold for hundreds of pounds on eBay during the last three months
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We could all benefit from a bit of extra cash at the start of the year.