'What's legal tender?' discussion

Brian_The_Lion

r9rog wrote: »

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.

At last, someone speaking some sense! I understand entirely why someone would be cautious in handling something unknown to them....Maybe if Scottish banks didnt have their own individual notes then the system might be a little easier to follow for english shopkeepers????

Does anyone know of any other countries that have numerous variations of the same value banknote?

I feel sorry for the foreigners visiting edinburgh and the like... I bet all the different notes take some getting used to!

tazical

I have a shop in England and the reason why many people don't accept Scottish notes is mostly because we hardly ever see them. A lot of shopkeepers aren't sure if the banks will accept them or not when they get presented with one for the first time.

I think we've only been given about 3 Scottish notes in twenty years and no Irish ones at all . I can't blame anyone for not taking a certain type of payment if they've never seen it before and/or would have difficulty using it as payment elsewhere.

Interestingly, a few years ago we accepted a Scottish £20 note and our bank refused to pay it into our account. We were told that any notes with '£20 sterling' written on them were acceptable, but if they just had £20 and no 'sterling' written on them then they weren't legal tender. I've since found out that isn't the case, so even the banks are confused on the matter!

shaunt

I was once told providing the note has the text printed on it I PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF what ever the size of note if its scotich and being used in england or visa versa the outlet is obliged to take it. One senaro being a group of scotish lads in english restuarant tried to pay with scotich notes restrant refused to take them, they called the police who told the restrant that unless the restrant took the scotish money the lads were within their rights to leave as they had offered to pay for the meal with legal tender currency.
The plot thickens

Reagrds
shaunt

GERRY5

The simple problem as a shopkeeper is the recognition of scottish and n. irish notes in the case of identifying whats not a fake and what is real, as there are three banks in scotland all producing notes its very easy to get caught out,also some banks also charge to send the notes back to there respective countries. as previously stated notes in scotland are not legal tender anyway , but acceptable tender only ...the scottish legal currency is the the coin ,but they accept almost anything due to there relaxed banking laws in comparison to the the bank of england rules.....as a retailer we have the right to refuse any sale regardless of reason not just the monetary issue being discussed here ,i.e. if an item is incorrectly priced i have no legal obligation to sell it at that price marked ,i do how ever have the right to withdraw the item from sale and reprice the said item whatever currency your offering.banks im afraid make charges not only for returning notes to there respective countries of origin but also for change,banking cheques, banking money etc...so why should any retailer take additional costs on board, the risks of fakes for a currency that is only acceptable tender and NOT legal tender in the eyes of the bank of england ...my staff are not rude to people offering scottish or n.irish notes ,but explain the reasons why we wont accept them, its not scots bashing in any form, the same reason why some people wont accept english fifty pound notes due to the amount of fakes around ...its the retailers choice in the end to deal or not ...

stewartgraham1

Given some of the queries about The Ilse of Man, Jersey, etc, search for "Banknotes of the pound sterling" in Wikipedia (for some reason, I couldn't post the actual link in my comment).

Basically, The BoE notes (issued by the treasury) , BoS/RBS and Clydsale notes in Scotland, and the 4 Northern Irish notes (alll issues by retail banks) come under "legal currency" (I what this website has listed as apporoved by the UK government) as opposed to legal tender. Other areas (such as Isle of Man & Jersey) have their local equivalents, but using those within the UK is a bigger issue). The biggest issue (forgive the pun) for the Scottish/ Irish is lack of recognision. Working in a supermarket many years ago I was very used to Scottish and English notes. The first ever Irish one I got, I admit I did call the supervisor, not to question weather we took them or not, but because I didn't recognise it.

Things do get complicated again as notes change - the BoS ones changed drastically a few years ago, and the first time I saw the new notes, I thought they were Euros! I even had to do a double take recently when I saw one of the new Clydstale notes (and as a Scot I'm still not used to them). As note designs change, it takes a while for them to filter in their "home" nation, never mind anywhere else, so I can understand the confusion sometimes. I have to admit, I tend to avoid £50/ £100 notes (not that I get many of them in the first place ) as even big shops go through checks (irrespective of which ank they come from), and some smaller places just don't take them at all.

Having said all that, I've generally never had any issues with Scottish notes in England. Staff/ taxi drivers may look at them a bit closer, but that's more due to lack of being able to quickly spot forgeries. It's probably partly due to the fact I use plastic more than money nowadays too!

Give it a few years, and we'll all either be using plastic or Euros anyway :rotfl:

lizalloareds

Brian_The_Lion wrote: »

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....



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

QUOTE]

why should people from scotland who are travelling down south try to make sure they have english money

i am not an english hater but i do object to being made to feel embaressed, i will continue to take scottish money when we go down south on holiday in july.

Brian_The_Lion

lizalloareds wrote: »

Brian_The_Lion wrote: »

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....



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

QUOTE]

why should people from scotland who are travelling down south try to make sure they have english money

i am not an english hater but i do object to being made to feel embaressed, i will continue to take scottish money when we go down south on holiday in july.

At what point did I refer to "people from scotland"???

I said, "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...."

As usual, another scottish person going on the defensive incase a nasty english person dares to tarnish their sacred country!!!

talulah25

ockyvines wrote: »

I find it odd that you seem to hate the English yet presumably reside in England.
Feel free to return to your own country where you can enjoy the unbelievable subsidies paid to you by the English.
I don't hear many sweaty socks complaining about those.
We could also do without the drunken incomprehensible scottish rants and fights at the weekends.
Enjoy the World Cup won't you

....and as a Scot I have often been asked why we as a nation hate the English....look no further!

johnfarquhar74

I've been all over England (from Edinburgh) and never had any bother as such (honest face) but I have 1 story that flips all this. a few years back I was in London and withdreww £100 in £10's from the nationwide at Leicester Sq. Later that night I bought some stuff from a 24/7 on Old St opposite my hotel. The shopkeeper refused my first 2 BoE £10's as they looked forged (his words, they weren't), he did how ever accept my BoS £10 without a fuss, in fact it put a smile on his face!

As an aside, as I do go South of the border often for work, I have a wee party piece where I'll try and pay for a round of drinks with £1 notes. The bar staff usually have no idea where to start, bearing in mind some of them are that young they probably can't remember them. I know, I know, I'm a legend in my own lunchtime:beer:

iomkeith

morganman wrote: »

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.......

So what you are saying is the Indian sub-continent young lady was correct and you were wrong on both counts?:D

Channel Islands (and Isle of Man) are not part of the UK, our money is as 'British' as a US Dollar. If you'd tried to pay for your baguette with a Euro you wouldn't have been surprised if she'd refused it would you?

Incidentally, especially during the Isle of Man TT Race period, many businesses here accept Euros... at a favourable exchange rate of course!