Foriegn money?

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col

Legendary Member
After debating at work,about jersey pound coins,and scottish ten pound notes,are they legal tender in britain,or do we just take them?Can anyone shed some light,i am convinced its not legal tender,but others are not?
 

SamNichols

New Member
Location
Colne, Lancs
The question of legal tender is of course mute nowadays: a cheque, PO, or credit card isn't legal tender either, they are forms of recognised currency. The same is true of Scottish money: it is at the discretion of the seller whether they accept it, although they are legal currency they must be backed up in equivalent tender (basically, private banks print Scottish money, and have to back up the equivalent in Bank of England pounds). Jersey money is different, whilst they can be accepted, and are in certain cases, they tend not to be due to Jersey being a crown dependency rather than part of the UK. So, basically: they are legal tender in their country of issue (only Bank of England pounds are legal tender throughout), they are recognised currency throughout rest of UK and thus can be accepted, but only at the discretion of the seller (you can't shout at a bus driver for not accepting the money, if it isn't company policy to accept Scottish notes). Strange but true fact: in strict terms, no paper money is legal tender in Scots Law. Only the £1 note was, but it was withdrawn.

I remember whilst on a bus in Bristol, a guy came on with a Scottish fiver. The driver took one look at it, and simply said: 'f*** off'. Guy did a two minute rant at him. The driver then said: 'finished now? Good. F*** off' I nearly peed my pants watching that.
 

SamNichols

New Member
Location
Colne, Lancs
Oh yeah, also I forgot re. Scottish Money: there are several different types, as several different companies print them. Also, £100 notes exist up there.
 

Fnaar

Smutmaster General
Location
Thumberland
None of my local retailers seems happy to take the "banknotes" I've scanned in and printed off my computer. :blush: Not even when I thread a foil strip though and colour in the Queens hair a bit. Can anyone help?
 
Fnaar said:
None of my local retailers seems happy to take the "banknotes" I've scanned in and printed off my computer. :smile: Not even when I thread a foil strip though and colour in the Queens hair a bit. Can anyone help?

Try foreign currencies! The receiver will be less familiar with them. :blush:
Years ago, a South African mate of mine here found a £5 note in the pub we were in. He took it to the foreign exchange centre and the girl changed it thinking it was £50!
 

yorkshiregoth

Master of all he surveys
Location
Heathrow
On London Underground we accept Scottish, and Irish Notes only as long as it is in sterling, but we don't accept jersey, gibraltar etc.
 
what Sam said... it's within the rights of the shop, etc to refuse a Scottish note outside of Scotland. mt friend up there has had English notes refused.

at my last charity some of the team went to the Channel Islands for a few work things and they bought back quite a bit of money that they raised at the events. It caused real problems as we had to sift through it all and count the 'proper' money separately and then wonder what to do with the 'foreign' stuff. i left it to our finance people to sort it out, but they had to arrange a special visit to the bank to have it all checked out. they weren't happy.
 
I remember paying for a round at a pub near York once with a Scottish tenenr. The landlord took one look at it and said "I'm not accepting that!" I said "well, it's very good of you to give us our beer for nothing ... are we giving him his beer back lads?" "Noooo!" chorused my mates, happily drinking their beer.
I was under the impression that Scottish notes were legal tender in England, but Isle of Man and Channel Islands currency were not.
 

cookiemonster

Legendary Member
Location
Hong Kong
If it has Pounds Sterling written on the note I believe it's legal currency anywhere in the UK.

BTW, London Underground machines DO NOT take Scottish Notes. Why?
 

Tim Bennet.

Entirely Average Member
Location
S of Kendal
The Scottish Banks have to hold Bank of England notes in their safes to the value to their own notes they issue. They make use of the BoE £1m note which luckily is not in general circulation, otherwise some twit would try to use it to by a train ticket in the queue ahead of you and start bitching about 'why don't they have enough money for change in the check outs, etc'.
 
I've got 26Million in Northern Irish banknotes stuffed away somewhere..well I wish I had, cos I could burn them and keep me warm over the winter.
After that robbery Northen Bank had to change all their notes. I love tendering my "Bank of Ireland" notes to people on the mainland.. Their first reaction is a new kind of Euro. As I'm on the border here its dual currency everywhere. Go into a pub and pay in Euros and ask for change in sterling. I always thought that the NI and Scottish notes were legal tender, but that most places didn't take them as they didn't know if they were fake or not.. BTW you can use scottish notes in northern ireland.. Currently in my pocket 4 notes from 4 different NI banks and some English Notes (we're a cash society here) On a slightly different topic is it true the 2P now is worth more in mineral value than in actual value due to the recent surges in metal prices.
 

SamNichols

New Member
Location
Colne, Lancs
As i said, legal tender is a very strict definition, Scottish and N. Irish notes are recognised currency. Strictly speaking, Scottish notes aren't even legal tender in Scotland, they are 'promissory notes' and aren't a legal entity per se. Hardcore Scottish independents have actually opposed moves to make Scottish notes legal tender, for fear that it would dilute the independence of the Scot banking system. To be frank, if I were a retailer I would probably turn down Scottish notes: there's too much risk involved. Scottish money is more susceptible to fraud as it exists in multiple types (there are three of each note depending on who it was printed by: RBS, Bank of Scotland, or Clydesdale) - it probably wouldn't be worth the training involved to get the staff to be able to recognise each type.


Old 2ps are worth more, because they were made fully of copper, now they have been debased and are copper plated over an iron centre (hence why they are now magnetic). So, old 2ps and old money is probably worth a lot more than new money in material terms.
 

buggi

Bird Saviour
Location
Solihull
this is all getting a bit complicated. he just wants to know if he can spend it...

If it's got sterling written on it, you can spend it. i know this, bcoz i worked on a till in sainsbury's (most boring job i ever had). there is no reason why any shop should refuse it, they are just be peanuts.
 

SamNichols

New Member
Location
Colne, Lancs
No: a shop can refuse it for many different reasons. Just because it says sterling on it doesn't make it valid: try spending an old pound note. It's up to the seller whether they accept it, just as it's up to the seller whether they accept cheques, credit cards etc. Scots money is legal currency in Scotland, but this doesn't necessarily replicate to the rest of the UK. It so happens that a great deal of places accept Scots cash, but that is up to them whether they do. By all means, do use it, but don't get offended if it is refused, there is no legal obligation for the seller to accept it. I have worked in shops that accept it, and some that don't.
 
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