 The minting of silver coinage of the pound sterling ceased completely in 1946 for similar reasons, exacerbated by the costs of the Second World War.New "silver" coinage was instead minted in cupronickel, an alloy of copper and nickel containing no silver at all.Beginning with Lord Wrottesley's proposals in the 1820s there were various attempts to decimalise the pound sterling over the next century and a half.