Nerdy Note Discussion: Scottish Bank Notes Aren’t Legal Tender...

King_Of_Fools

royburdett wrote: »

I know you're talking about Scottish notes, But has anyone else tried getting rid of IOM £1 coins in wilko's, not a chance. I even rang their head office to complain, it's their policy, not interested with the fact that it is £1 STERLING, and i promise to pay the bearer etc, etc.

That is the point, though. Even if it is IoM Sterling, it is not legal currency in the UK along with Gibraltar Sterling. Whereas, Scottish and NI Sterling is legal currency in the UK

Cerro

I get similar problems trying exchange Scottish notes for foreign currency - you get a lower rate. Why? It's all worth the same! Makes me want to slap them - any excuse to make money.

My local shopkeeper (in Scotland) will check every English note handed over to him as they are easier to fake, Scottish fakes can be spotted a mile off...

um5000

I had work experience in a bank some years ago and they cleared it up for me. ALL notes are not real money (read it on the back - they are a promise to pay the bearer on demand) - only coins are legal tender. As for those commenting on the 'difference' in scottish notes making it harder to determine fakes - what a load of nonsense - bank of england seems to issue new notes on a whim every so often and the most recent look more like euros than anything else, makes it difficult to tell either side of the border(s) when you get a new one. You can tell a real note by the look, feel and to avoid all doubt using a uv pen. Rejecting a scottish note should hopefully just mean you won't get a sale - fools!

ruth39

I can remember 30 plus years ago, the scottish papers being full of stories about English retailers only accepting Scottish notes on the basis of them being worth less than English notes. For example, only accepting a £1 Scottish note as being the equivalent of 80p in English money. If memory serves me right, it was particularly rife in places that had lots of Scottish holiday makers such as Blackpool.

The stories seemed to totally disappear though once the recession set in. By that time I think retailers were just glad to get any money, and so couldn't get away with these kind of tricks any more.

I live in England but after visiting Scotland I always have Scottish notes. I always find bi retailers are never a problem in spending these. It is always the small shopkeepers who say they have never seen these notes before, who are reluctant to accept them.

alibalibee2

A.Jones wrote: »

I live in York during the week and just outside Glasgow at weekends, and I can honestly say that I have never had a problem using Scottish notes in York. Be it Tesco (although I usually use a cashback credit card in there), the corner shop or a taxi, I've never had a problem.

You must be the only person. My family have all had the same problem if they have visited me and returned with Scottish notes. My Dad worked for a Taxi firm and their policy was not to accept them. My mum also had great difficulty changing them at the Barclays branch!!!!

nickjarvis

I was recently in London, I couldn't find anywhere that would accept a scottish note. So I went to a bank to exchange them, I was told that it would cost £1.50 for every note to exchange as it costs the bank that!
It really annoys me as we are still governed by the bank of england's rates etc.
Has any one else had these problems?:mad:

steveomcg

Meh, don't take my money loose the sale, no skin of my nose there are lots of shops... Either that or i pay with my credit card and hope to myself they get charge a lot for it (if i'm feeling particularly spiteful)

SpamValley

I worked as a cash controller in a Scottish cinema for a few years, and always made sure the cash handlers knew to accept any English, Scottish or Northern Irish note that were valid at the time. As I recall, the only real problems we had were when English banknotes ceased to be legal tender - no matter how many pictures of the old note you put up, one would always creep through a year later after you thought it safe to put the posters in the bin! But we banked them anyways, and never had them sent back!

With regards to forgeries, anyone with half a brain can generally spot them within a few seconds. I never once saw a forged note that stood up to a bit of basic scrutiny, never once had any returned by the bank that had slipped through on my watch.

I don't mind a few basic checks being carried out on Scottish notes when I use them elsewhere in the UK, but the basic principles of spotting a fake are pretty much the same regardless of where the note came from - watermark, metallic strips, paper quality and texture, ultra-violet, detector pens and even the old rubbing it on a piece of white paper to see if the ink comes off (which it should if it's real!). If you handle money often enough, I don't see why you can't tell with reasonable confidence within 30 seconds whether a note is real or not. The vast majority of fakes I saw were terrible, rarely any better than colour photocopies. We had notes offered that were printed upside down on the reverse, and even one that was blank on one side!

Last month I had a 5 minute wait in a busy Nottingham restaurant whilst the staff found someone to do these checks, and last time I was in London, a busy bar on the Strand refused to take any Scottish notes. Sorry, but if you can't be bothered to learn how to spot a fake or to teach your staff how to do so, then I'll gladly use my hard-earned elsewhere!

I like having a colourful mix of Scottish, English and Irish notes in my wallet, although the day we all use the Euro can't come quickly enough - no more faffing around with exchange rates anytime we're on the Continent, and an at-a-glance way of seeing how much we're being ripped off with prices in the UK!

harryhound

I banked 150 GBP in English pound notes in 2005.
My dear late mother had stuffed them up the back of the gas meter.
One or two were the old "big" size.

The_Guv

Here in Stranraer and up the west coast of Scotland certainly as far as north as Kilmarnock we work with 3 different forms of currency on a daily basis without problem

English Notes

Scottish Notes and

Northern Irish Notes

Anyone who thinks a Scottish note is difficult to change in England should try changing a Northern Irish note, which now include a plastic fiver in England !

Main thing to remember is if you are living in Scotland or Northern Ireland and are travelling abroad, be sure to go to the bank before you go and get some English notes as countries abroad will only accept notes issued by the Bank of England. Any moneychanger you find that will accept a Scottish or Northern Irish note will give you less than 80% of the rate per pound as that for a Bank of England note.

Just as long as we don't get the euro, I'm happy.:T