26th February

Today in 1791 the Bank of England issued the first ever pound note. It was nearly four feet square and didn't fold up very well into anybody's purse or wallet. So, two centuries later, they came up with a £1 coin instead. A number of points to consider here before we put our proposals to the IMF.

• Paper money was so new in the 1790s that use of it led to a run on the banks. Imagine - bankers being beaten up in the streets; oh, the joy of it!
• The 'gold' coin that replaced it was briefly called a Thatcher, because it was 'bold, brassy and thinks it's a sovereign'.
• The £1 coin was too small for anybody to write on it 'I promise to pay the bearer the sum of £1' or to carry the all-important signature of the Governor of the Bank of England.
• The current economic crisis has now been going on for so long that 48% (that's over half) of Eight Zed Pee have never seen a £1 coin, although they tell each other stories when they gather round the family dog for warmth of an evening about that great Eldorado that used to exist down the back of the sofa, long since mined out and used to buy essentials like a warmer dog and stamps to go on the begging letters.

Golden days.

In other news ...

Fats Domino was born today in 1928. What were Mr and Mrs Domino thinking, calling their enormously talented little boy Fats? that would be child abuse today, which is why I find it so odd that people who call their kids Bucket, Playstation and Chunnel get away with it.