Decimal Day Board. Consideration was given to introducing a new major unit of currency worth ten shillings in the old currency: suggested names included the "new pound", the "royal" and the "noble". This would have resulted in the "decimal penny" being worth only slightly more than the old penny (this approach was adopted, for example, when South Africa, Australia and New Zealand decimalised in the 1960s, adopting respectively the South African rand, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar equal in value to 10 shillings). But Halsbury decided, in view of the pound sterling's importance as a reserve currency, that the pound should
Newfoundland one cent Newfoundland one cent As Newfoundland did not join the Dominion of Canada until 1949, it had its own currency for many decades. It adopted its own decimal currency in 1863. Compared to other pre-Confederation British colonies, it had a wide selection of decimal coinage (including a twenty cent coin). The most important coin in Newfoundland was the Spanish American dollar (the 8-real piece), therefore, the Newfoundland government set its dollar equal in value to this coin. The new decimal cent was equal to the British halfpenny and $4.80 was equal to one pound sterling. Varieties of 1880: Three date varieties