Coin-operated electricity meter - photo

[Moby Duck]

Used in England, if you watch old Brit TV shows, many times they would have one of the characters dropping a coin in one to get the lights back on in the flat.

Yes very common in the UK, no money no power, and people just sat in the dark or went to bed if they had no coins. Common in rental properties. I remember them from the 1960’s, Union Jack Club, a servicemen’s doss house for want of a better word, cheap accomodation but 1 shilling in the meter to do your ironing, then go as fast as possible before it ran out. This one is a relatively modern one, it takes 1 pound coins, back in the 60’s they were using 1 pound notes and the technology for a machine that accepted notes wasn’t around. The 1 pound coin was first issued April 1983. Money was short, it was very rare to get a 5 pound note and they were relatively huge pieces of paper. If you presented one as payment in a shop the proprietor would stretch it, snap it, hold it up to the light to check the watermarks, recheck it several times and sometimes use a magnifying glass, then visually check you out before they would accept it.

[NeiljohnUK]

These days they use a card system, which has to be recharged at a shop, often forced on those who've been late with a payment, and not just in rental properties.