Scottish notes?

[34D]

What really gets my goat is the people who refuse to accept English £50s in England: they're the most secure note we have!

 

[LexyBoy]

Interesting that you've found that Scottish notes are only 'rarely' accepted in your experience... is this a geographical thing in England? I've lived in Cumbria or North East England my whole life and have encountered Scottish money in circulation periodically (once a year or maybe every other year). I also travel to Scotland for work typically once or twice a year and have never had any trouble using any money back here.

I've had Scottish notes in change (apologetically!) more than once, living in the South. Rarely had much problem spending them either, though I do tend to use them in large shops/stations/pubs.

 

[island]

I've had Scottish notes in change (apologetically!) more than once, living in the South. Rarely had much problem spending them either, though I do tend to use them in large shops/stations/pubs.

If I'm in a bad mood and am offered a non-Bank of England note in change in England or Wales, I will ask for a Bank of England note, which usually gets a strange look but the desired result.

I virtually never pay cash for anything any more though, so it's not very relevant.

 

[Liam]

Scotland: Any Scottish & English - won't / don't want to take NI stuff.

I've never had any problem spending NI notes in Scotland. I quite often get one or two back in change in certain Glasgow pubs.

 

[Fare-Cop]

I'm sure I'll get castigated by some here for posting this true incident, but I found it an amusing interlude at the time.

Around 30 years ago I was in a large ECML station booking office when on a Friday afternoon that particular station would frequently see substantial numbers of service personnel travelling in and out to various locations as there was a nearby HMF establishment.

On this particular Friday a rather loud 'squaddie' approached a clerk's window and thrust two Clydesdale Bank £20 notes into the cash turntable and said "Oi! change them for me pal."

The clerk, a very experienced supervisor in his 50's replied "How do you want them split?" to which came the reply "All fives if you've got them"

The clerk, who a short while earlier had taken an ICOBS pay-in, swiftly placed eight RBS fivers in the tray and spun them around.

The look on the squaddie's face was pure disbelief as he saw the Scottish £5 notes and he said quickly and quite forcibly "I don't want that sh*t you pr**k"

The booking clerk retrieved the fivers, returned the two Clydesdale twenties and said "I'm sorry I couldn't help sir, next please".

Like it or not, attitude is all in some circumstances.

 

[Agent_c]

I'm sure I'll get castigated by some here for posting this true incident, but I found it an amusing interlude at the time.

Around 30 years ago I was in a large ECML station booking office when on a Friday afternoon that particular station would frequently see substantial numbers of service personnel travelling in and out to various locations as there was a nearby HMF establishment.

On this particular Friday a rather loud 'squaddie' approached a clerk's window and thrust two Clydesdale Bank £20 notes into the cash turntable and said "Oi! change them for me pal."

The clerk, a very experienced supervisor in his 50's replied "How do you want them split?" to which came the reply "All fives if you've got them"

The clerk, who a short while earlier had taken an ICOBS pay-in, swiftly placed eight RBS fivers in the tray and spun them around.

The look on the squaddie's face was pure disbelief as he saw the Scottish £5 notes and he said quickly and quite forcibly "I don't want that sh*t you pr**k"

The booking clerk retrieved the fivers, returned the two Clydesdale twenties and said "I'm sorry I couldn't help sir, next please".

Like it or not, attitude is all in some circumstances.

Brilliant....

 

[NSEFAN]

What really gets my goat is the people who refuse to accept English £50s in England: they're the most secure note we have!

Presumably the mistrust of them is because most people don't normally use them and therefore cashiers may be easier to fool with fake fifties?

On the subject of Scottish notes, the only refusal I've heard of was my Scottish aunt trying to pay for something in an antiques fair in Great Missenden with one. No words were said by the lady who owned the stall, she merely gave a look of sheer disgust until the note was swapped for a "proper" one!

 

[Smethwickian]

Having had previous experience of cash handling and banking at an ex-partner's small business, I've always asumed the main reason many English and Welsh shops might prefer not to accept Scottish notes is that if subsequent customers won't accept them in change, then it effectively depletes the available float, particularly of fivers. I've never had a problem banking them or using them in larger establishments such as supermarkets. In general I pay for many things by card, try to change larger notes in larger establishments and be as helpful as possible in tendering smaller notes and coins in smaller shops for lesser value purchases.

 

[34D]

Presumably the mistrust of them is because most people don't normally use them and therefore cashiers may be easier to fool with fake fifties?

I think it's just the "we do not accept £50 notes" mentality as per signs from the 80s.

The reality is that the Wren 50s probably were easy to forge, but the Houblon one weren't, and the current Boulton & Watt almost impossible.

 

[class303]

Interesting that you've found that Scottish notes are only 'rarely' accepted in your experience... is this a geographical thing in England? I've lived in Cumbria or North East England my whole life and have encountered Scottish money in circulation periodically (once a year or maybe every other year). I also travel to Scotland for work typically once or twice a year and have never had any trouble using any money back here.

As a teenager I worked in a Lake District tourist attraction and we received a Scottish note most weeks and Irish notes at least once or twice a month - we were alerted of their existence when we started working there and were encouraged to accept them! So they can be got rid of at major tourist attractions. However if it wasn't for that experience I wouldn't be familiar with Irish notes and can imagine that it's very difficult to spend them outside of travel or tourist sites.

I'm Scottish and lived in England for 15 years now with many trips back and forth to Scotland. I've NEVER had a Scottish note refused anywhere in England, in my experience it's a complete myth that they are not accepted.

 

[krus_aragon]

Yes it is a geographical thing! down here in Kent you've got more chance of a retailer accepting Euros than Scottish Notes. Im a frequent traveller to Scotland and I usually either keep them for the next trip or get rid of them in the Tesco Auto tills. Even if you find someone that does accept them it will invariably be under protest. Having said that I take a lot of money as a volunteer at the K&ESR and they are vary rare down here in general use.The only non English sterling bank note Ive been offered this year was an Ulster £10 and the owner was apologetic. I get offered Euros all the time.

At this point I feel I should relate one of my wife's experiences:

When working at a cinema, it was drilled into her (and other new members of staff) that they could only accept banknotes that clearly state "Pounds Sterling" on them. She then pointed out that no Bank of England notes bear this writing!

 

[Flying Snail]

At this point I feel I should relate one of my wife's experiences:

When working at a cinema, it was drilled into her (and other new members of staff) that they could only accept banknotes that clearly state "Pounds Sterling" on them. She then pointed out that no Bank of England notes bear this writing!

Reminds me of the time I offered a non-English note at a cafe on a large station a few years ago. The Young assistant looked at it, turned to her older colleague and asked her what country sterling came from.

I'm Scottish and lived in England for 15 years now with many trips back and forth to Scotland. I've NEVER had a Scottish note refused anywhere in England, in my experience it's a complete myth that they are not accepted.

You must live a charmed life then, I am not in GB that often but have had a number of refusals or grumbles over Scottish or NI notes south of the border.

I had one particularly obnoxious fool in Glasgow once who rudely refused a NI £5 for a small purchase, after a bit of to and fro I pocketed the £5 and offered him a Bank of England £50 which he also complained about taking. Eventually he accepted the £50 and started giving me change in Scottish notes which obviously I had to reject on principle. The general amusement of this little drama ended when he used a certain word normally only heard out of the mouths of Ulster loyalist types as a sectarian insult which of course required a chat with his manager.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I'm Scottish and lived in England for 15 years now with many trips back and forth to Scotland. I've NEVER had a Scottish note refused anywhere in England, in my experience it's a complete myth that they are not accepted.

You must live a charmed life then, I am not in GB that often but have had a number of refusals or grumbles over Scottish or NI notes south of the border.

My experience over many decades of very regular travel between Central Scotland and South East England (via home and office in Newcastle) is the same as that of class303 - I never give it a second though, and neither do the people I hand my notes to. But then I guess I know that I must be equally blessed with a charmed life, because I never encounter those horrid 'jobsworth', agressive, rude or unresonable rail staff that this forum assures me are lying in wait just as surely as are the counter staff in a shop, venue, cafe or pub who will refuse my Scottish notes. I'm just doomed to suffer the kindness and generosity which seems to escape others on here.

 

[najaB]

I'm just doomed to suffer the kindness and generosity which seems to escape others on here.

My experience has been somewhat inbetween - I've only rarely had objections to Scottish notes, the vast majority of the time they are accepted without question.

 

[Chrism20]

The only time I have had a problem using Scottish money when in England in the last few years was just the other week in Kings Cross Waitrose.

I handed over two Scottish £5 notes, one the lady never had a problem with but the second one was one of the new Clydesdale polymer ones and it caused a right kerfuffle.

Once the BOE start using them though that problem will pass.

 

[trentside]

I often get Scottish bank notes handed to me by passengers arriving of Anglo-Scottish services, often with a comment about "only having Scottish money" or "I hope you take these"... I always reassure them and tell them that the railway is probably the easiest place to get rid of them, other than the banks or a Post Office.

I did once change a Scottish fiver for someone out of my personal money when I was on a training course, before realising that I had to get the bus home that night. I was slightly worried about it being accepted, but as the driver turned out to be from north of the border, it wasn't a problem

 

[BurtonM]

When I was 17 and volunteering in a charity shop, two German tourists came in and bought something that was sub-£5, paying with a tenner.
Lo and behold I'm short of £5s and £1 coins from this happening all day every day, and I'm down to my last £5. A Scottish one, pretty unlikely considering I was in Derbyshire.
The two Germans had no issue with it - but it did make me wonder what a bureau de change on the continent would make of them.
Another thing I experienced in the same shop was coins of the old Irish pound - some of them are exactly the same dimensions as some of our coins still in use, so now and then I find them in my change etc. They frequently go unnoticed and they'll even work TVMs for obvious reasons, but what would happen if you paid for a ticket using one in a TVM and were somehow picked up on it?

 

[najaB]

They frequently go unnoticed and they'll even work TVMs for obvious reasons, but what would happen if you paid for a ticket using one in a TVM and were somehow picked up on it?

Strictly speaking you should get accused of fraud!

 

[47802]

There is still the odd shop around where I live in Yorkshire that doesn't like them, so I usually get rid of them in Supermarkets, In Scotland last week offering an English £20 as payment in a shop the guy asked me if I was a visitor, I said yes, ok you can have this then an English £10 Note as change.

 

[CheesyChips]

The two Germans had no issue with it - but it did make me wonder what a bureau de change on the continent would make of them

When I lived in Russia, the exchange booths (which are everywhere in Moscow) would display two different exchange rates for English and Scottish notes, the Scottish rate being far far less generous.

Had I presented a NI note I would have been exciled to Siberia.

On a slightly related note but still quite interesting, Russia had the problem that their Kopek (100 Kopeks to a Rouble) coins had a higher metal value than face value.

 

[najaB]

On a slightly related note but still quite interesting, Russia had the problem that their Kopek (100 Kopeks to a Rouble) coins had a higher metal value than face value.

Still a better position than Zimbabwe where during the period of hyperinflation the notes had a higher value as paper than face value!

 

[CheesyChips]

Still a better position than Zimbabwe where during the period of hyperinflation the notes had a higher value as paper than face value!

Haha so true