Buckets of pennies rolled into Canberra banks as customers took full advantage of the last banking days before decimal currency was introduced, The Canberra Times reported on this day 54 years ago.
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Banks throughout Australia closed to convert their operations into decimal and all banks in Canberra reported up to 100 per cent increase in business. The Reserve Bank in London Circuit changed $40 worth of pennies for one customer after he presented his collection in a bucket to a teller.
Some Canberra bankers were not sure that, with C-day four days off, the public had a sufficient grasp of the workings of the decimal system. Mr Grover, manager of the National Bank's Civic Centre branch, said people appreciated they would be spending in dollars and cents, but had not yet mentally converted their income.
Mr Reid of the ANZ Bank said: "The message, although stressed by the Decimal Currency Board, had not got through yet, but people will adapt quickly."
On the other side of the coin, Commonwealth Bank manager, Mr Maitland, said most people "would go through the changeover period without fuss".
Canberra hotel keepers still did now know how much beer would cost in decimal currency. One said: "There's plenty of time. I imagine we will get instructions." It is expected that prices for seven-ounce and 10-ounce glasses will be direct conversions. Milk would cost 10 cents a pint.
