decem), and the decimal system is a base ten system Prior to 1971, British currency was organised so that twelve old pennies were equal to a shilling, and twenty shillings (i.e. 240 pence) were equal to a pound. With the introduction of the new system, new coins were created and minted, though vestiges of the previous system remained; the new five pence was the same size and colour as the old shilling, for example. In fact, old shilling coins were retained within the currency system and used interchangeably with five pence pieces, as were the larger florins (two shilling pieces), which were interchangeable with ten pence pieces, and which were the same size and weight. The shilling was only withdrawn from circulation in 1990, with the introduction of a smaller five pence piece, and the florin was withdrawn as late as 1993 when a new, smaller ten pence coin was minted. Of course, the introduction of a new coinage system was not without its challenges, and thus a huge public information campaign was waged. Literature was distributed, demonstrations were given, automated machines were switched to accept the new coins. When the Euro was introduced in many European countries, the EU looked at case studies from decimalisation to evaluate and anticipate the difficulties that might have been encountered in the process of switching currency." />

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