Old money, old stamps & WH Smith vouchers.

JamesNoBonds

Hi.

Not sure where to put this as there are 3 separate issues but they generally amount to the same thing. But have an interesting one here. . .

We were recently having a clear out/tidy-up at a family members places and in a couple of old long read books and an old Christmas card we found:

1) £30 in old paper money (a £20 and £10 note). Obviously no shops etc. will accept these now.  
Has this gone or is there a chance of perhaps paying this into a bank account? And are they legally obliged accept the money?

2) A book of old stamps - (though not that old, lol, no penny fatherings). These are the 1st class gold ones with the Queen's head on them. 
Obviously they are not like the new ones these days that have the barcode next to them.
Can these still be used or are they now wasted? If so do they have the same value (as in one 1st class stamp would be sent1st class)?

3) The oldest one of all: Two £5 WH Smith gift vouchers (I can only guess these are from around 15 years ago). The terms and conditions on the back do not state ANY expiry date.
I haven't tried going to WH Smith yet - but I suspect anyone on the till wouldn't know what to do with them.
Though out of interest, does anyone know if they would be legally obliged to exchange them for similar? (obviously the value of them has gone down tremendously since first given).

Thanks.

MSE_James

You can change old notes via the Bank of England - I posted some to them last year and they paid the value into my bank account.
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/exchanging-old-banknotes 

Old stamps can still be exchanged for barcoded ones via the swap out scheme:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/06/royal-mail-stamps-six-week-warning/

born_again

You could try your local bank that you have a account with. They might exchange.

https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps

Vouchers. You would be very lucky..

theoretica

Not WHSmith vouchers, but I spent some old paper book tokens without causing consternation. 

HillStreetBlues

JamesNoBonds said:

3) The oldest one of all: Two £5 WH Smith gift vouchers (I can only guess these are from around 15 years ago). The terms and conditions on the back do not state ANY expiry date.
I haven't tried going to WH Smith yet - but I suspect anyone on the till wouldn't know what to do with them.
Though out of interest, does anyone know if they would be legally obliged to exchange them for similar? (obviously the value of them has gone down tremendously since first given).

Thanks.

They should be honoured, as at time time you got them WH Smiths didn't expiry dates.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2006/apr/29/consumernews.moneysupplement

WH Smith says it offers paper vouchers without an expiry date. It only sells vouchers that must be used within one year for its "experiences". "Customers are sent a pack telling them about it. They must activate the pack by calling a number. They are then issued with vouchers which last a year. That is dictated by the operators, who include a one year expiry date," said a spokeswoman.

Okell

I redeemed some (very) old W H Smith vouchers a couple of years ago.

They must have been at least 10 and up to 20 years old.

There was no expiry date on them and the store were happy to accept them on that basis.

[Edit:  and the young assistant on the till knew exactly how to process them...]

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

If you change the £10 note and add it to the vouchers you might just have enough for a chocolate bar from WHS. 

eskbanker

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

If you change the £10 note and add it to the vouchers you might just have enough for a chocolate bar from WHS. 

Puts me in mind of this

HillStreetBlues

JamesNoBonds said:

1) £30 in old paper money (a £20 and £10 note). Obviously no shops etc. will accept these now.  
Has this gone or is there a chance of perhaps paying this into a bank account? And are they legally obliged accept the money?

Can try the Post Office
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/banknote-exchange

Okell

Won't the OP's own bank allow him to pay the old notes into his bank account?  He doesn't have to use the Bank of England does he?

I paid some old out of circulation Scottish notes into my Santander account last year.  If they accept out of date Scottish notes surely English notes would be even easier(?).

ArbitraryRandom

Re the stamps, I'd suggest contacting the customer service team here to see if they can be swapped for the new barcode style: https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps