Good place to hide cash and other valuables?

GreyQueen

Gers wrote: »

I have no hiding places to offer, however if you have a stash of cash bear in mind that all bank notes are being replaced by the new polymer ones. All paper notes are being withdrawn gradually so your stash will become impossible to spend in a couple of years.

Which is why my old fivers are currently in my purse being spent. But it is a good point. I think the £20 notes are going polymer in 2020.

All banknotes ever issued by the Bank of England are redeemable, even when they are not spendable. Which means that you can pay outmoded bank notes into your bank account, or swop them over the counter for new ones, even after they have been withdrawn from circulation and shopkeepers will no longer take them. I witnesses two English £1 notes being changed for £1 coins recently and the cashier didn't bat an eyelid.

Smart people keep an eye on their notes and make sure that they have the current ones in any cash stash they may be holding. Obvs, if you take bundles of outmoded notes into a bank, it may flag up unwanted attention from TPTB, so it would be prudent to change them over a little by little, as soon as the new notes start appearing.

Gers

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/about/faqs.aspx

Some banks won't take old notes, some will.

We've had new polymer notes in Scotland for a year now, though only from one bank so far. The other two will catch up soon I think.

IN EDIT : http://www.scotbanks.org.uk/polymer_banknotes.php

I had a little stash of new old notes (paper) which I spent the other week, replaced it with new ones. They're not particularly hidden, just put away.

moneyistooshorttomention

This is where I'm getting confused - as a poster on MSE said the other day that only the Bank of England will swop old notes. Logic tells me any bank has to swop them = whether they like it or no basically. Now I've just read two different verdicts on this thread.

Does anyone have a link to what bank's obligations are (ANY bank - whether they like it or no) as regards this?

GreyQueen

Interestingly, none of the Scottish bank notes are actually legal tender. Nor the Northern Irish ones. They can be used in payment, with the consent of both parties, but only Bank of England bank notes are legal tender in England and the devolved regions.

I know people who have paid old ten shilling notes, as well as outmoded fivers, tenners and twenties, into various banks with no problems, and other pre-decimal bank notes, too. The banks aren't thrilled about it, as they have to send them to the BofE for destruction, but they've never refused. Obviously, if you are already their customer, it does help - I was asked this at the bank when I wanted to change notes into coins, the intimation being that if I didn't bank with them (I did), they wouldn't want to offer that service.

Gers

GreyQueen wrote: »

Interestingly, none of the Scottish bank notes are actually legal tender. Nor the Northern Irish ones. They can be used in payment, with the consent of both parties, but only Bank of England bank notes are legal tender in England and the devolved regions.

I know people who have paid old ten shilling notes, as well as outmoded fivers, tenners and twenties, into various banks with no problems, and other pre-decimal bank notes, too. The banks aren't thrilled about it, as they have to send them to the BofE for destruction, but they've never refused. Obviously, if you are already their customer, it does help - I was asked this at the bank when I wanted to change notes into coins, the intimation being that if I didn't bank with them (I did), they wouldn't want to offer that service.

Think you're confusing 'legal tender' - an outmoded term, with 'legal currency'.

http://www.acbi.org.uk/legal_position.php

And this -
http://www.scotbanks.org.uk/legal_position.php

SailorSam

GreyQueen wrote: »

:cool: If anyone is reading this and feeling smug because they've got a safe - I have some bad news. I know several people who have had their safes stolen in burglaries. And other people, who know quite a bit about safes, who tell me that any safe will break open if you hit it often enough on the corners with a lump hammer.

There is also an aspect of safe-ownership which many don't think of; you can't usually bring them home by yourself. Which means that other people will know you have a safe, and may speak unwisely, or be dishonest themselves.

When i started on the Cabs i bought myself a second-hand safe 'cos it was the only time we'd had cash in the house. It was very old and although only about 2' tall it took 3 of us to move with the help of a trolley jack. I felt the cash was safe from the biggest theif of all .......... the taxman.
Being serious though it's fireproof, so even now when there's nothing valuable in there, there is important paperwork. I even leave the key in the lock thesedays so if i did have a break-in they could look without causing any damage.

Shropshirelass

We had an incident in this road a few days ago, involving an elderly couple. Villain walked in through the back door and took cash from handbag and cupboard while householders watched the evening soaps. No breaking involved as door was unlocked.
Last incident was about 5 years ago, crims worked their way round the estate on a Saturday night trying all the doors. They took spanner and socket sets, and 2 bottles of lemonade. They were only disturbed when they tried to break into house where laptop was clearly visible through kitchen window. Ex-army resident chased them away, though I believe he gave one of them a bit of a thump first.
Now I am obsessive about locking doors, and closing curtains at night. Money is put well out of sight. Don't want to make it easy for them.

Upsidedown_Bear

I keep a small amount of emergency cash in a book called "How to cope when the money runs out".

It seemed appropriate :idea:

philbostavros

This reminds me of a holiday to Ibiza many years ago. We were staying in an apparthotel with friends and their young daughter, being an enquisitive type, looked behind the pictures on the wall.

To everyone's surprise, pinned to the back of one, was a 5000 peseta note (told you it was a long time ago)! A previous occupier had abviously thought it better to keep it there than in the communial safety deposit boxes in the lobby?

purpleybat

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

This is where I'm getting confused - as a poster on MSE said the other day that only the Bank of England will swop old notes. Logic tells me any bank has to swop them = whether they like it or no basically. Now I've just read two different verdicts on this thread.

Does anyone have a link to what bank's obligations are (ANY bank - whether they like it or no) as regards this?

years ago when I worked for a bank we changed old style notes and damaged notes (as long as we had all of it) with no problem at all. things like old shillings etc we saw very rarely and had to ring head office for advice, but they were usually taken. 9 times out of 10 they weren't worth swapping so the customer didn't bother.
my dad took loads of white £5 and other money to barc bank a couple of years ago when gramps died and they found them in his wardrobe. it took them a while to credit his account with the money, but I think that was cos they had to verify they were real.
regarding the original post, I have nothing worth stealing and as I live in organised chaos I doubt id notice if someone did rummage through my stuff