'What's legal tender?' discussion

ulyssesfisherman

And what about the many and various Northern Ireland notes?

Pembroke

When I was a bus driver a few years ago I had a couple of Americans pay me with Crowns (25p), why you'd want to use souvenir coins in this way was beyond me, but they seemed happy enough to do so. We also used to have a poster in the depot that told us which Scottish bank notes we could accept and which we couldn't.

paulandmargarete

What is the situation with regard to currency from the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and Gibralter?

I was offered an Isle of Man £1 coin in my change recently, but refused it. Was I right to?

gozaimasu

I think it's just complete ignorance and lack of education of the english. Like a few of you have said, people in Scotland don't bat an eyelid when you hand them a bit of paper with the queen's ugly head on it.

Scottish notes are POUNDS STERLING just like english and Northern Irish ones, and banks will accept them. It amazes me that not even managers of shops know this....they go and take all their money to the bank anyway so what's the big deal?!

All this crap about spotting fakes is also ridiculous. Get a fake note pen to check it instead of discriminating against another British person just because they use a note that comes from a different part of the country.

The Government and the Queen ALLOW Scottish banks to produce their own notes, so why the BEEP aren't the english queen worshippers accepting them?!

I can't believe how people here live in such a sheltered bubble and just have the most idiotic look on their faces when you hand them a Scottish note to pay for something. Absolutely thick.

When I was a teenager in Scotland I had "an ethnic person" refuse a Northern Irish £5 note in a corner shop. I don't know why but I remember that day so clearly....

I was on a train in Scotland not so long ago, and was sitting not far from a group of english tourists who were visiting Glasgow or something. I'd come back from Belfast with one of their £5 notes. I went to pay for my ticket, hesitated, and said to the driver "oh, I've only got a Northern Irish fiver, I don't suppose you'll accept that, eh" and to my immense pleasure the driver nice and loudly announced something like "oh OF COURSE we accept that money, we're not like the english" and how they didn't accept our money etc. I really hope that group of tourists learned at least something from their trip to Scotland.

/end rant

morganman

Another twist - I tried buying a filled baguette on Waterloo Station with a Guernsey £5 note and the Indian sub-continent young lady refused to accept the note. After an exchange of views I gave her a £10 Bank of England note instead. The change included a Scottish £5 note. The devil in me rose to the surface and I, in turn, refused that note.......

Brian_The_Lion

a hint for all concerned about having too many scottish notes prior to travelling south.... try and use non scottish cash machines, especially barclays and nationwide....

Ive found that more often than not they give out english banknotes... handy when youre in glasgow central waiting to board the train to london!

And for all you english haters out there... the scots do it too!!!

I was in tesco in glasgow and had to have a supervisor check the authenticity of my Northern Irish £10 note...the only thing that swung it was that I still had my boarding card stub from my flight from belfast...

David12

leeleepop wrote: »

There are three different types of Scottish bank notes for each denomination. If you've never come across any of these before, spending an extra few moments to check for a forgery is sensible.

Go to scotsbanks.org.uk and look up Scottish banknotes.

Could you spot a forgery (unless you regularly handle them obviously...) within 5 seconds of receiving one?

It's up to the managers to train staff, it's not a cashiers fault. A note with quick check info on forgeries/eral notes be put up near tills. For English ANd Scottish notes.

If the receiver is rude/difficult, then fair enough you deserve a moan, but otherwise, anyone who gets rage over this is just ENJOYING having a moan!

Shouldn't that be scotbanks.org.uk?

z4harry

paulandmargarete wrote: »

What is the situation with regard to currency from the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and Gibralter?

I was offered an Isle of Man £1 coin in my change recently, but refused it. Was I right to?

I've never been sure what the situation is with Manx money. All I know is that as a frequent visiter it's a nightmare trying to get rid of it and to get them to give you English change (notes) the day you are due to go back. And just when you though that all you had left was english money, you end up getting a manx note on the boat.

The manx, however, will accept anything. The island is full of English Scotish and Irish and all their money is gratefully accepted.

Incidently, a Manx £1 will be accepted in any coin machine, so it would have been easy to get rid of next time you parked.

Brian_The_Lion

gozaimasu wrote: »

I was on a train in Scotland not so long ago, and was sitting not far from a group of english tourists who were visiting Glasgow or something. I'd come back from Belfast with one of their £5 notes. I went to pay for my ticket, hesitated, and said to the driver "oh, I've only got a Northern Irish fiver, I don't suppose you'll accept that, eh" and to my immense pleasure the driver nice and loudly announced something like "oh OF COURSE we accept that money, we're not like the english" and how they didn't accept our money etc. I really hope that group of tourists learned at least something from their trip to Scotland.

/end rant

"not so long ago" - I think your whole post is a load of rubbish.... especially the fact that train drivers do not take fares... and find it extremely unlikely that "the driver" would announce something like that....

Are you sure you're not just making up a nice anti english rant?

r9rog

Readers should not indignantly expect suppliers to accept non-BoE notes. Apart from Court rulings, legal tender is required to honour a debt which is frequently incurred prior to offer of payment. Restaurants, taxis and petrol stations are contracted by the customer on the basis of payment by means that are acceptable to the supplier. The customer is obliged to pay by - and the supplier is obliged to accept - legal tender, ie BoE notes and coins; in fact, the customer is not entitled to change.

Such suppliers are entitled to compensation in a form they recognise and trust. I see about a dozen Scottish notes a year and one Ulster note every 2 years, but I handle about 5000 BoE notes a year. I can't identify Scottish notes from memory and at my bank I have been shown forged notes of a slightly more pink and a slightly more purple shade so why should someone I don't know and will never see again expect me to take an enhanced risk of loss when the law clearly does not support them?

Martin, please stop aiding the forgers and recommend that where relevant people always ask restaurants, taxis and petrol stations if they are prepared to accept non-legal tender prior to incurring the service.