Electrical Decimal cash register, with eight security keys: seven on a key ring and one loose, by NCR Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, United States, American, 1960-1969

The introduction of decimal coinage in 1971 necessitated the production of a generation of new machines and the adaption of existing pre-decimal machines, such as this cash register used by staff at LETSALKNIT LTD, a business importing and selling domestic knitting and sewing machines owned and run by Roy and Florence Hughes.

This cash register was used by LETSALKNIT staff to manage sales, especially hire purchase and credit sales, from the 1960s through to the early 1990s. It was modified by the manufacturer NCR Corporation in early 1971 in order to accept new decimal system of currency introduced in the UK in February of that year.

In the 1960s, Letsalknit was selling a high percentage of their knitting and sewing machines on credit, using two different types of credit. One was hire purchase where the customer was the owner immediately and where the buyer to paid one third of the purchase price immediately and the remainder spread over 12, 18 or 24 months. The other was called a credit sale where the buyer only became the owner once all the instalments had been paid. The credit agreement required no deposit and the purchase price was spread over 9 months. All these sales required a good accounting system.

In the 1960s, the cash register was purchased for LETSALKNIT LTD in order to manage these different types of sales – the cash register allowed staff to enter the money received into different categories, e.g. cash purchases, repayments of hire purchase agreements, and repayments of credit sales. At the end of each day, the register could print out the amount received in each of the categories enabling LETSALKNIT LTD to keep up to date with the different accounts. The introduction of decimal coinage in the UK in February 1971 necessitated a modification to the machine by the manufacturers to accept the new system of currency. The cash register continued to be used until the Hugheses, owners of LETSALKNIT, retired in 1991.