Hypothetical question- Paying with £20 coin

dadsgoneshopping

Hi-

Hypothetically, could I settle my mortgage (or part of it) with the £20 coin? I note that they are NOT accepted in banks or shops, but ARE legal tender. I bought a bunch of them a few years back and now cannot shift them at face value, could I pay my month's mortgage with them?

Thanks!

AnotherJoe

AIUI, no. Legal tender only means what a court will accept.

Private businesses are not bound by those rules. Tesco would be quite at liberty to say they weren't accepting 20p coins for example.

dadsgoneshopping

Hi AnotherJoe,

That is not my understanding:

Legal tender has a very narrow and technical meaning, which relates to settling debts. It means that if you are in debt to someone then you can’t be sued for non-payment if you offer full payment of your debts in legal tender.


http://edu.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender/

TrickyDicky101

Perhaps you should ask your lender whether they would accept your £20 coins? Then you'll know.

Thrugelmir

dadsgoneshopping wrote: »

could I pay my month's mortgage with them?

Is your lender a bank?

dadsgoneshopping

HI,

Not a bank a building society.

unforeseen

dadsgoneshopping wrote: »

Hi-

Hypothetically, could I settle my mortgage (or part of it) with the £20 coin? I note that they are NOT accepted in banks or shops, but ARE legal tender. I bought a bunch of them a few years back and now cannot shift them at face value, could I pay my month's mortgage with them?

Thanks!

No but if you want to pay off the WHOLE mortgage with legal tender then they should accept it

dadsgoneshopping

Wish I could pay the lot off, but that is many years (or a lottery win) away. £20 coins are going for about £15-£17 at the moment on ebay, if I had the money to buy a bunch more, I could effectively make a massive saving on my mortgage, if it were possible.

AnotherJoe

dadsgoneshopping wrote: »

Hi AnotherJoe,

That is not my understanding:

Legal tender has a very narrow and technical meaning, which relates to settling debts. It means that if you are in debt to someone then you can’t be sued for non-payment if you offer full payment of your debts in legal tender.


http://edu.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender/

I stand corrected I misread that.

Which means there is a chance for someone to arbitrage these by buying at £17 and settling the debt at £20. Good luck !

dadsgoneshopping

I am not actually in a position to take advantage of this myself in any great way. I have £200 of the £20 coins, I bought them thinking that they may increase in value but at the least would retain their value, I was wrong. But it might be worth a punt...

Edi81

I!!!8217;ve just had a quick look on the Royal Mint website that states:

However, while it is indeed legal tender, it has not been designed to be used as a circulating coin. This means that while you would be OK to use it in the settlement of a debt in court, for instance, your local shop or bank probably won!!!8217;t accept it in trade for goods, as the mechanics and systems are not in place to enable that. The highest denomination coin in general circulation today remains the £2 coin, first introduced in 1998.

The £20 coin has been created with the intention of being a commemorative coin, produced in limited editions and sold at face value (£20) to be bought and kept by collectors or someone looking for an affordable, sterling silver memory of a key personal event or occasion.

Doesn!!!8217;t sound too hopeful!