The Pound Coin Turns 30 Press Release

19th April 2013

NEWS RELEASE

THE £1 COIN AT 30

This Sunday (21st April, 2013) marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of the £1 coin. To celebrate, MoneySupermarket has launched ‘The Story of the Pound Coin’, looking back at the history of the coin and comparing the buying power of £1 now, compared to 1983.

Launched at the height of the Conservative Government, the £1 coin was reportedly disliked by the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, however, its popularity, and distinctive design led to its forerunner, the £1 note, eventually being withdrawn from circulation in 1988.

Although 30 years have passed since its first became legal tender, the similarities between then and now couldn’t be clearer. The UK was recovering from recession in 1983, while politically motivated chart hits weren’t uncommon!

However, the buying power of £1 has changed considerably in 2013 compared to 1983. In 1983, £1 would buy 1.4 pints of beer compared to 0.3 pints currently, while you could get 5.9 Mars bars for £1 compared to just 1.7 now.

In 1983, £1 would let you watch 34 minutes of a Manchester United match, while you wouldn’t even manage to watch injury time at Old Trafford, with £1 buying just three minutes of action. Fans of Glastonbury would be able to see over 6 hours of entertainment for £1 in 1983, compared to just under an hour now.

Clare Francis, editor-in-chief at MoneySupermarket, said: “So much has happened over the last 30 years, with the cost of living having risen significantly. This has had a major impact on what £1 will buy you now compared to when it was launched in 1983. The average family’s shopping basket has rocketed in price, with a loaf of bread increasing over 300 per cent, milk increasing over 250 per cent and the cost of eggs having surged by more than 400 per cent.

“The £1 coin is so familiar to us now, but few of us probably give a second thought to its history. To mark its 30th birthday, we’ve launched an interactive tool so people can track the journey it has come on.”

For more information on The Story of the Pound Coin, visit the website at

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/savings/infographics/story-of-the-pound/.


For more information, please contact Martin Carter.

Contact details: martin.carter@stickyeyes.com, 0113 391 2929.

Full list of references are available on the MoneySupermarket.com The Story of The Pound webpage, or on request.

Milk and Beer statistics: ONS Statistics for 1983 and 2012

Mars bar: http://specials.ft.com/nicocolchester/FT3XZDJSEIC.html and Sainsburys

Man U tickets: http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats/prices.htm and current Man U ticket prices on website

Glastonbury: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/history/1983/ and current Glastonbury ticket prices on Glastonbury website

Coffee, Bread, Eggs: ONS Statistics for 1983 and 2012

Interesting Information

Dead Cell Phones in Horror

While watching horror movies in these modern times, you’ll always find that one of the many plot points involves technology. It never really points to it in the positive, in fact, many times you’ll end up seeing negative actions in regards to it. This is especially true when dealing with cellular communication, which many of us take for granted. Sure, in real life, when out far, we depend on certain functions and coverage to help us out, and for those that utilize best orange deals, or something like that, it seems to be quite reliable. However, what about the people in the movies? It seems cliché to lose signal right when you need it most.

There are a lot of movies that this happens in. Most recent in my memory is none other than the horror piece that was The Ruins. That film needed a phone bad, because if there was just a little bit of communication to the outside world, things would have been a lot better for our college kids trying to escape the clutches of a curse on Mexican soil.

Signal plays a role in a lot of ways, especially when it’s no longer an option to use when moving forward in a plot. For instance, that of the plot points in The Human Centipede, or better yet the atrocious remake of The Hills Have Eyes. Did you catch those two plot twists? The signal that was so strong, just so happened to break away and drop to oblivion. Perhaps it was an accident that takes it out, because of course if someone has one of these great devices, they are going to immediately call the authorities right? Well in the film Funny Games, it just didn’t happen, and that’s unfortunate.

The death of cellular communication seems to be something that many people don’t really talk about until it happens in the movies of horror based characters. Think about this for a moment, it just so happens that this is an answered question in nearly all major movies, including the last few that I personally reviewed. Maybe the answer is not so much that it’s there, but that it’s used with care and featured with a certain amount of brevity for the audience to buy into. For instance, Scream utilizes this for a great deal of the film’s franchise and it doesn’t bother me. Then again, the signal was strong, so maybe that wasn’t a good example after all. I don’t know about you, but it’s going to bug me a lot, until movie makers stop using that crutch.

The Proliferation of Horror Movies Online

Rewind the years and you will find that getting the best in horror movies was not exactly an easy task. In fact, if your local video store didn’t have a good selection of the genre, you didn’t get to watch a lot of things outside of the movie theaters. That has all changed with the proliferation of streaming content. With so many people using high speed internet in their home, it’s interesting to see how many are starting to find out some of the best media in the world can be streamed into their home. Whether you’re looking to Stream movies online in the UK or you’re doing it anywhere else in the world, you’ll find that these modern times are perfect for the modern horror fan.

It’s not just the horror fans that need to rejoice, any other genre of movie that you can think of is available at your finger tips on your computer, or even video game console! Many of the best movies aren’t just free to stream some can be purchased or rented. That means that you will not have to go to your local video store and hope they have it in stock, and that means that you can test the waters and see if a film is worth your money before you invest in purchasing it on blu ray or anything like that.

Don’t get me wrong, I was once a fan of the local video store, but since there are none in my area, I have found that streaming content is far easier and cheaper for that matter. No longer am I dropping hundreds of dollars a week on renting physical media when I can easily just click a button and in a few minutes I can be watching the latest and greatest in horror, science fiction, comedy, or anything I desire for that matter.

Some of the best movies I’ve seen in the past few years, even the ones on this website that I’ve reviewed has been through streaming. For instance, the last review of Scream 4 that I just did, was done through online viewing instead of buying or renting the blu ray. I didn’t end up seeing it in theaters and didn’t want to drop a lot of money on purchasing it from a store if I could easily see it online or through my video game console. It’s this type of methodology that is going to continue to proliferate online, and I for one am up for it.

New Light on Scream 4

Scream 4 Poster

I changed my mind on the horror franchise.

The other night I decided to watch Scream 4 again, my previous thoughts on the movie were dry, and devoid any sort of spark. I was in a different place back then, financially better off, just starting to blossom as a grad student, and now look at me! I’m broke, beyond belief, and can’t even afford to keep the lights on in our home. Well, I take that back, they haven’t shut off our lights or other utilities, but it’s headed that way unless this site starts kicking in, so if you have a little bit of money drop me a line sirjorge at gmail dot com and help me literally keep the lights on, I wish that was a joke.

Scream 4 is one of the many movies that I wanted to see in theaters when it came out, but instead found myself sitting on a red painted curb smoking a clove cigarette. I wouldn’t say that I’m an addict, but I miss spending time smoking, it relaxed me. Why is it that such a terrible vice calmed my nerves? At least there’s other smoking options that do the same in these modern times, but that’s for another conversation. Back to the movie, I wanted to see this in person and never did. I finally rented it while I was living in Koreatown and a new relationship was blossoming after my divorce and things in the horror world seemed boring to me. That’s why my review of this film previously didn’t ring true to what I think now.

Suffice to say that I love this movie, far more than I do the original sequels. Now, don’t get me wrong, the original movie is awesome and showcased a revival for Wes Craven after making some cheese ball movies. Albeit, my favorite is still SHOCKER, even though I am alone in thinking that. I found this movie to be stellar on the second viewing and for a lot of different reasons, actually.

I Know That Actor!

That’s right, the actors on my first go around were not that recognizable, at least not the ones that were introduced for this movie. However, that’s not the case now, I definitely spotted people I knew, included TODD from that Canadian cult show about the book of pure evil, and many others. It was then that something started to click, and the popcorn started to pop. This movie is far more entertaining than I originally thought.

The overall movie is interesting on many different levels, with our main character coming back to town in order to sign and market a self-help book on how to get over traumatic events. We then get a struggling writer and now sheriff involved in trying to resurrect her career when serial slayings start to occur. That’s not before getting a lot of self aware rants and raves about the current landscape of horror. All in all the movie flows far better than the previous incarnations, and I absolutely was thrilled with the stellar moments, and even the not so hot moments where Craven decided to pull the camera away for dramatic effect.

All in all, Scream 4 is one of my favorite horror movies to come out in recent years, and that’s say a lot, because I am usually jaded about all of these things. But not today, even though I am a few months away from being homeless, with no career to speak of, I found that this movie let me stop thinking about thing for a few hours. It gets my recommendation, even though no one will agree…so I say. Drop me a line if you have thoughts on the mater, and please, donate by purchasing items through amazon or directly through paypal, I absolutely am in need right now, thank you.