'What's legal tender?' discussion

Johnwt

Little story regarding Scottish banknote. I visited Egypt last year, flying from Edinburgh to Hurghada where I spent 2 days before bussing it to Luxor for 10 days then returning to Hurghada to fly back. On my first time in Hurghada I had visited a jeweller’s shop just for a look round but as is usual in Egypt, the shopkeeper asked where I was from to which I replied Scotland and was told that he liked very much the Scottish people etc. On my return to Hurghada, I was walking past the shop where the shopkeeper was sitting outside. “Ah my Scottish friend, I have a small problem perhaps you can help me”. I thought this was some ploy to lure me into his shop to make a sale, as is the common case in Egypt. But no. He had made a sale and had been given a Clydesdale Bank £20 note which he had accepted but his bank refused it so he wanted to know if it was genuine and would I change it for him to Egyptian pounds. I told him yes but would check with the bank teller in my hotel (next door) what the current Sterling exchange rate was. He told me he would accept £150 Egyptian (about £15 Sterling) so I gave him that making a profit of £5 on the deal. So moral of story, don’t take Scottish banknotes to Egypt as banks won’t change them although some traders will accept them as this case proves.
As footnote, some years ago I was on a return flight from Australia back to UK on Singapore Airlines. I wanted to buy a bottle of Scotch but my Royal Bank of Scotland £10 banknote was refused, even although we were flying into Heathrow. Fortunately a nice English lady behind me offered to swap with a B of E note which I accepted. Also the currency exchanges at Changi airport in Singapore won't change Scottish notes, but I've noticed in some European countiies (Greece & Portugal at least) where Scottish notes are listed separately from Sterling at Bueaux de Change.

Brian_The_Lion

Ive heard that In Turkey they seem to like BofE £10's? and that came from a scottish bloke too! lol...

canal-man

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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>This thread raises another important question.

If I tender (let's say English) paper money for a purchase, and the trader says that in his opinion my note is counterfeit,
what exactly are my rights and duties, and what are his rights and duties?
Can he for instance confiscate my note (I think not)?
Must I take my note to a bank to be verified?
What should I do? Is there anything which I am legally obliged to do?

Is there anyone reading this who is in a position (eg a solicitor) to give an authoritative summary of the position?
.

Glittermonkey

canal-man wrote: »

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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>This thread raises another important question.

If I tender (let's say English) paper money for a purchase, and the trader says that in his opinion my note is counterfeit,
what exactly are my rights and duties, and what are his rights and duties?
Can he for instance confiscate my note (I think not)?
Must I take my note to a bank to be verified?
What should I do? Is there anything which I am legally obliged to do?

Is there anyone reading this who is in a position (eg a solicitor) to give an authoritative summary of the position?
.

Not sure what the correct answer is here, but we are taught that if we believe a note to be counterfeit, we legally have to confiscate it and send it off to our bank to confirm. We should call the police but they dont tend to come for one note but they do for larger amounts.

Bedrock

absolutechaos wrote: »

This is a debt because you've eaten the food. Therefore, my understanding is that legal tender cannot be refused. Scottish money isn't legal tender so that could have presented you with an interesting situation.

If this was me and I couldn't resolve it, I would simply walk out, go to a cash machine and get some English notes.

If it was me, I would have smiled and thanked them for the free meal. With the offer of lawful payment refused there is no theft.

Bedrock

What notes are acceptable in different parts of the UK (& NI, IoM, CI) mainly comes down to an issue of familiarity. In Scotland, seeing the 3 local bank issues as well as the odd BoE note is normal and therefore familiarity with the different notes is normal and acceptable. However, when in England I try to use BoE notes just because Scottish notes being uncommon in most parts of England (other than Blackpool) the people do not tend to be familiar with the designs and can be forgiven for being unsure as to the status of Scottish issued bank notes. For the “Legal Tender” argument, as I understand it, the concept doesn’t exist under Scots Law and we seem to get along fine without it. The currency issued by the banks of Scotland, NI, IoM and Channel Isles are all backed by the BoE and are therefore acceptable currency in all parts of the United Kingdom. I wouldn’t get heated over a refusal to accept my Scottish notes in England though as why should I put some shop/bar worker in fear of their job if they make a genuine error due to them not being overly familiar with my notes? So when down south, I will carry local BoE notes whenever possible thankyou. In saying that though with the likes of a restaurant, where goods are consumed prior to payment, maybe it would be wise to state that they do not accept “whatever” notes before I eat the meal because after may be too late to moan about the design of the notes I have on me at the time after I have ate the meal. (I would also know what restaurants to avoid going into)


I will add a little story about visiting my brother who lives in south east of England. We went down to his local pub for a pint, I even remembered to ask for “bitter” and not “heavy” and was looking through my wallet for English notes to pay when my brother asked me to give him a Scottish £20. He hands it to the barmaid who obviously knew him well and she looks at it and says “oh, you been up the road then”? To which my brother replies “No, my brother is down for a visit” she then says “is this the tame one or the other one”. “the other one” says he…..I was just too busy wondering what was bitter about my pint of heavy to get confused over what the “other” might mean