I AM young enough to remember the half-crown coin, and its cruel demise in the face of decimalisation.

Being a Clifton lad at the time, my friends and I paid half-a-crown to watch York City, and it was the same price for a pint of Brew Ten at the Burton Stone public house.

On the day of the changeover to decimal we all gathered eagerly at the bar to witness the change, and the barmaid told us that the humble half-crown converted to twelve-and-a-half new pence - for the price of our pint.

Although that was the end of an era, it was only the beginning of the end for the great rip-off that followed. Fifteen pence sounded more respectable for a pint. Then 20 pence and so on, until the price of a pint had doubled.

I can also remember some of the York City football team popping into the pub after the match, and we used to joke that they might play better if they had a couple of pints before the match.

Happy days.

Allan Denney, Gatesby House, Holgate Road, York.