Author: Ben Dodson

Unfortunately, I now find myself a part of the middle-aged population, and every now and again, talking like my parents and theirs before them, quoting how things were “so much better in the past”.

This happened recently when talking about my nephews and nieces, and the modern generation of teenagers who don’t appear to have the same appreciation of money that we had. Half way through this conversation, I thought to myself, “Oh god, no! I’m turning into my parents.”

Later that day, I drove home thinking to myself that we have heard this all before. Grandparents complaining that kids get given too many presents at Christmas, while routinely reminding us that, “when I was their age, I was up at 6:30am delivering papers – kids get it too easy these days.”

Whilst some of this might be true, it led me to consider whether our relationship with money has subtly and slowly changed. When I was a child, my parents gave us piggy banks to house the pocket-money we didn’t spend on sweets, or the cash we earned to save for holidays or things we really wanted.

Those physical coins represented hopes and dreams. And then when we progressed to receiving or earning cash notes, this feeling was boosted yet further. We would often be found tipping out this money onto our beds or floor, to count, admire and analyse the physical items and consider how they might be spent – rolling the coins between our hands before placing everything back into the piggy banks once more.

As younger children, we also had a pot of old and out-of-circulation coins and notes that were given to us for play. We would be fascinated in the different designs – sizes, colours and what they were made from – dividing the pot between us and then pretending that we were grown-up, bartering between ourselves for imaginary items. Those notes and coins were a symbol of ‘adult’ trade, and ultimately, wealth.

And perhaps that’s where things have changed. If we leave teenagers aside for a second, I know that my own relationship with money has changed considerably over the last 10 years. I very rarely need or use cash, other than in a pub to pay for a round of drinks under £10, to get my hair cut or occasionally to pay a tradesman who demands cash only – a window cleaner for instance. I can now even pay for car parking online.

This is very different from my parents’ generation, who regularly had wallets and purses containing one or two hundred pounds – not because they were wealthy, but because they felt more confident in being able to meet any challenge with money on their person. They also knew that when the cash was gone, it was gone. End of spending.

Very different than today.

Most of my own retail transactions are made via debit and credit cards, swiped, tapped or even made via Apple Pay. In addition, the way in which I buy items has changed too. Most of my retail transactions are now online and made at the touch of a button. No exchange of any physical money takes place.

Probably because of this, I was quite excited and inspired by the recent introduction in the UK of a new five-pound note. Being part of a Graphic Arts specialist PR agency, I was already familiar with the print house that produced it, De La Rue, and their recent investment in a Contiweb Thallo packaging press. Although this press installation was unconnected, I was intrigued to see the new note.

Compared to its predecessor, the new fiver is physically smaller, smoother to the touch, more brightly coloured and includes hidden new security features. It also doesn’t quite fold so stays new in feeling, and is printed on a brand-new substrate from Innovia – it’s virtually indestructible. To my mind, it’s a beautiful thing.

So, on the day of its launch, I found myself going out to a cash-machine specifically to find the new five pound note. Having done so, I analysed it and then handed it around the friends we saw that weekend. In our excitement for this new note and what it represented, I realised that it had re-engaged not only me, but also our friends, with physical money in a way we hadn’t experienced for quite some time.

It’s now been a while since it was introduced, but I still feel like the new UK fiver is something special. No doubt the novelty will wear off soon.

However, how can we expect today’s teenagers to have our historic and nostalgic connection with cash? They may have a piggy bank in the corner of their bedroom and might also be encouraged to save, but their financial transactions will be made predominantly on a debit card or online with no real interaction with cash – unless deliberately engineered by their parents. As such, is it any wonder that their relationship with money is so different to ours?

In addition to this, because of a change in social behaviour and a bid to better protect our young, the average child has a very different upbringing to a child of the 1970’s. Today, they very often don’t get their first job until they enter the adult workforce, so they don’t earn money until later in life.

And when they do, many of them go into an environment where their salary is paid directly into their bank account. So, they’ve never had the experience of being handed a brown paper envelope containing a collection of notes and coins in payment for their hard work. And from that, they’ve not then had the experience of physically managing that cash, handing it over at the tills and watching it disappear from their wallets and purses.

Now, this may well be the ‘new reality’. If so, I can see that in the not too distant future, physical money could be a thing of the past. But with the recent cyber-attacks on the UK’s NHS and other international hospitals, you do wonder whether physical money is still a safer and more reliable financial model for retail transactions.

Regardless, in terms of understanding and appreciating the value of money, I think that we would all be the poorer were it not for the printed note and minted coin.