What did you own or use back in the day that the youth of today wouldn't believe existed if you told them today.
Who remembers these public phones, if i remember right you put your 2p in pressed A dialled the number then when someone answered pressed B.
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Hi Chippy - Yes I remember using that style of Public Telephone Box.
I'm surprised no-one has said that they didn't take the 2p coin until decimalisatioin in 1971 (see below).
Prior to that:
Costs of calls from British public phones mid-20th century
Local calls
For local calls from a public phone, only pennies were needed. They were of course 'old' pre-decimal
pennies.
Once the handset was lifted from its cradle, the coins were fed into a holding slot at the top of the box. Then the caller
dialled the number that he or she wanted. If someone answered, the caller had to press Button A in order to be heard. If no-one answered, or it was a wrong number the caller pressed Button B and the coins were returned through a shoot underneath.
Guest contributions
As one born in 1943 I can say that in 1950 public phone calls cost two
old pennies (2d) without a time limit. Eventually this rose to 4d, still untimed. Timing came in around 1960 when I was courting, and the cost was initially 3d for 3 minutes. Slots were then provided for 3d pieces and
6d bits. Some rural box’s had yet to be changed.
Colin Benbow
Public phone box
In 1951 the cost of a local call up to 5 miles was three
old pennies (3d). These calls were not timed on
A/B boxes. Then price increased to four pennies (4d) on the first of January 1957 and later that year the distance for 4d was increased to 15 miles.
Ian Jolly, one-time telephone engineer
In the late 1960s and early 1970s
4d (1.67p) was the minimum charge for a local call.
I believe the cost went to 2p when we were decimalised in 1971. However the 2p coin was the same size and weight as the old
halfpenny and a lot of phones as well as slot machines would accept both coins - which made calls and purchases cheaper!
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