Snip Snap

Decimal Snap created by Eric Wagstaff,  published by Michael Stanfield Holdings in 1968

Michael Stanfield was a publisher of children's books (Rupert Bear, etc.) and games (jig-saw puzzles, Nine Men's Morris, Bridge sets, etc.) in the late 1960s, 70s and early 80s. ‘Snip Snap’, the Decimal Currency game, was played like Snap and aimed to familiarize players with the new decimal coinage and monetary values. Half of the pack shows sums of money in old English currency whilst the other half shows the same amounts in new (decimal) currency. Players call “snap” when cards showing the same amount are played. The rules are briefly described on the box and on the back of the Conversion Tables, whilst a leaflet enclosed with the cards explains the schedule of events during the changeover to decimal currency (click images to zoom) →

See also:  Change for a Shilling►

Above: Decimal Snap created by Eric Wagstaff, published by Michael Stanfield Holdings, London 1968. . A total of 48 cards: 24 cards arranged in 12 sets of 2 to show `old money' 1.2d, 2.4d, 4.8d, 1/-, 2/-, 2/6d, 3/-, 4/-, 5/-, 10/-, 15/-, £1; 24 cards arranged in 12 sets of 2 to show `new money', ½p, 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 12½p, 15p, 20p, 25p, 50p, 75p, 100p. Additional cards showing conversion table between old and new money.

Note: The abbreviation for the old penny, d, was derived from the Roman ‘denarius’, and the abbreviation for the shilling, s, from the Roman ‘solidus’. The shilling was also denoted by the slash symbol / , also called a solidus for this reason and used today in website addresses, which was originally an adaptation of the long s.

Below Left: the back design, a Decimal Currency Conversion Table and rules. Right: leaflet enclosed with the cards explaining the schedule of events during the changeover to decimal currency (click images to zoom) →

By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

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Curator and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.