1970 threepence coins are selling for around £4 or £5 on ebay right now. The coins were minted until 1970, as teh following years marked the start of decimalization. People referred to the coins as 'threepences' or 'threepenny bits.' It's hard to imagine today but the threepenny bit had a fractionalised value - it was worth one eightieth of a pound sterling (£).
The value of a threepenny coin
Here are some other nuggets of information you may not know about the advent of decimalization in 1971.
• Before decimalization, one British pond sterling was worth 240 pence, which made calculating prices much more tedious than it is today.
• Before decimalization there were 12 pennies to the shilling and 20 shillings to the pound. This system dated back to Roman times!
• When decimalization took place, banks in Britain had to close for four days to prepare. People were very worried that shops would use the change to slyly put up their prices... And many did.
