When decimalisation was first introduced to the UK in 1971, there were originally 100.02 pence to the pound. This was deemed by Treasury officials to be too unwieldy for the man in the street, so it was rounded down to 100p. The extra .02p could be added as an extra penny in every 50 pounds, thus 50 pounds would in fact be recorded as 50 pounds and one penny. However, this was poorly implemented by many employers and financial institutions, and so the extra penny was "lost". But nothing stays lost for long, and it was the banks that began to accrue the "lost" pennies, showing up as "extra" money in the vaults which they not unreasonable divided up amongst their friends.