Imagine you were an eight year old in 1833. You sold newspapers and were paid a penny a day for six days a week. Every week you were paid 6d from which you saved 3d. You did this until you were 14. You kept your money in a box that you hid in your bedroom. You saved £3 18s 0d. You then became an apprentice. You put your box away and left it. You were successful and did not touch your savings. Ten years later you remembered your box. The value had risen by 1/6, the amount it would have taken you six weeks to save when you sold newspapers.

Compare that to an eight year old today who gets a £10 note as a birthday gift. He puts it away and forgets it. Ten years later he finds it. Debasement of sterling over one full year to 5 Sep 2025 is 39.1% causing the value of that £10 note to be worth 7p of the value it had when he received it.