WITH the current removal of the "round’ pound coins and the introduction of their replacement ("Round pound rolling away"), The Herald, October 16), I can’t help but reflect on several things in the past: (1) Harold Wilson’s famous speech about “the pound in your pocket or purse not being devalued” when it had, in fact, been devalued by 14.3 per cent against the US dollar; (2) the introduction of decimal coinage to the U.K. when a late colleague of mine used to say that decimalisation was “the biggest con trick ever perpetrated on mankind (because many shops used it as an excuse to “round-up” prices rather than round them down). His statement about “the biggest con trick" was, perhaps, just a bit immoderate, but I ignored it on account of his advanced age.

However, I can well understand this viewpoint when we are told that we can no longer use the highest denomination coins in our currency. How long will the copper coins last? Can one buy anything for a penny? I can’t think of anything. You try looking for a penny caramel. In fact, try explaining what they were to a child. How about silver coins? They have got to be on the same slippery slope as the pound and can only really be used to collect in bundles to make up a pound.

Barry Lees,

12 Denholm Street, Greenock.