George Parker Bidder and Decimal Currency

Marine Biological Association: The shilling is not used as a means of payment in Britain anymore, as it was abandoned when the country adopted decimal currency in 1971, according to Deutsche Welle. It was replaced with the 5-pence coin, today worth 7 euro cents - as the pound has lost much of its buying power compared to 110 years ago. Inside it, there was a postcard asking the finders to send it to the research association, with a promise of a money reward of exactly one shilling - a twentieth of a British pound. Breaking the record Around 1,000 of such postcards were set on their voyage by researcher George Parker Bidder, who later became the president of the Marine Biological Association. Most of them, however, were trawled out by fishermen and returned decades ago, Baker said. The bottles were used in a study into the movement of sea currents, and were weighed down to float just above the sea bed. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.