Scottish Money??

[grandma]

Don't know if this has been covered before but my daughter was in Blackpool on holiday and she had problems using her Scottish Bank notes. I thought we were a United Kingdom? She had run to a cash machine and withdraw some English notes before she could travel on a bus. I don't think I would refuse an English note (too mean to refuse money for a start;)) so why is it ok to use English notes here but not Scottish there?

[northener]

ignore this post

[northener]

It's a common problem in England - less so in the Border region though.

I'm not sure about whether it is actually legal tender in England, but certainly many are loth to accept the notes.

To be fair, I don't think it is an anti-Scottish attitude that causes it, it's merely an unfamiliarity with what the notes should look like. I'm sure many people haven't got a clue as to what to look out for if the note was a 'dud'. The obvious and unfortunate answer to this is not to accept the note at all.
I know from my own experiences working in Blackpool on the seafront that there are many workers on the tills who don't want to get caught out and are unsure of the 'legal tender' issue.

Perhaps someone more knowledgable could clarify the legal position...and wether the reverse situation is the same (English notes in Scotland)?

[Angela]

It pains me to say it, but I rather think it's only Bank of England notes that are, strictly speaking, legal tender.:(:confused

[Tilter]

Scottish notes are legal tender. I've been refused service down south when all I had was Scottish notes (at a sandwich shop in Swindon). Also, sometimes people inspect the note and yourself as if you're so dodgy you really can't be doing anything but passing on counterfeit notes. When I've brought English notes back here, no one's looked twice at them - they're just taken.

[teenybash]

www.Siliconglen.com/Scotland/l_7.html (http://www.Siliconglen.com/Scotland/l_7.html)

[TBH]

When we are independent you will be using the euro eventually so it won't be a problem.

[Kevin Milkins]

I am not sure what the legal positon is , but I was supprised on more than one occation in Wales .
I went to a pub and the girl behind the bar was given instructions by her boss not to accept Scottish notes.:mad:
I went in a shop and the young girl serving had never seen Scottish money before and could not get hold of anyone on the phone to ask if she could accept it.
Pubs have the right to refuse to serve you without giving you an explanation so I suppose that would cover them.:confused

[Tugmistress]

A definitive answer taken from here (http://www.answers.com/topic/legal-tender)

:eek:


Bank of England notes (http://www.answers.com/topic/bank-of-england-note-issues) are the only banknotes that are legal tender in England (http://www.answers.com/topic/england) and Wales (http://www.answers.com/topic/wales). United Kingdom coinage (http://www.answers.com/topic/coins-of-the-pound-sterling) is legal tender, but in limited amounts for coins below £1.


Scottish notes are not legal tender anywhere in the UK, including Scotland where only the coins are officially legal tender. Although this is the case, Scottish notes are widely accepted in return for goods throughout the UK; they have a similar legal standing to cheques (http://www.answers.com/topic/cheque-1) or debit cards (http://www.answers.com/topic/debit-card), in that their acceptability as a means of payment is essentially a matter for agreement between the parties involved.


In Scotland and Northern Ireland, ordinary banks have the right to issue their own banknotes. These circulate freely alongside Bank of England notes and have the same value. The Currency and Bank Notes Act 1954 defined Bank of England notes of less than £5 in value as legal tender in Scotland.[4] (http://www.answers.com/topic/legal-tender#wp-_note-siliconglen) Since the English £1 note was removed from circulation in 1988, this leaves a legal curiosity in Scots law (http://www.answers.com/topic/scots-law) whereby there is no paper legal tender in Scotland. The acceptance of English or Scottish banknotes in Scotland is a matter for agreement between the parties involved.


Creditors are obliged to accept any "reasonable" settlement of the debt, be it banknotes (Scottish, English or otherwise), coins, cheques or even (in theory) property. In the event of a dispute, it would fall to a court to decide what "reasonable" meant in the circumstances.


In general, Scottish and English notes and British coins will be accepted anywhere.

[rob1]

I have had the same problem and it can be rather embarrassing. Although alot of people start screaming "it's legal tender" when this situation arises, the truth is that Scottish notes are not legal tender in England, in fact they are not even legal tender in Scotland. This all comes down to what technically is legal tender and that is something I can't help you with. Scottish notes are basically promissory notes much like a cheque or even like a monetary IOU. Although not legal tender, they are legal currency which means the equivalent monetary value is backed up at the Bank of England. The reason why some retailers in England varies, some don't know what they are, customers may not realise what they are if given to them, perhaps retailers are not allowed to give them out. It will all change when we join the euro/dollar or whatever!!

[joxville]

I've lived in England several times over the last 20 years and rarely have any problems handing over Scottish banknotes. However one time I handed a young assistant a Scottish £20 which he held up to the light to check so I took it back and gave him an English £50. When he handed me my change I insisted on checking every note the same way he had. :)

[arana negra]

I have had problems with my Scottish notes in England, I know what the law says about them and just as retailers are not obliged to sell you anything I am not obliged to buy from them especially if they don't want my countries notes. They changed their mind when they were going to lose the sale. I too have scrutinised English notes for devilment :lol:

[Angela]

Bank of Scotland notes seem to be less alarming than Royal Bank of Scotland - not only in England and Wales but abroad as well. Maybe it just sounds more of an equivalent to Bank of England.

Even so, the exchange at the Acropolis in Athens initially refused to change our Bank of Scotland notes as they weren't on their list of currencies.:( It would have been a long walk back down the hill....eventually they reluctantly relented.

I visit Greece a lot and learned never to take a Clydesdale note there as they clearly thought it was just Monopoly money and the banks and exchanges would refuse to take it. I can understand that it must have meant nothing at all to them...."What country is Clydesdale?" etc. :confused Fair question really!

[Melancholy Man]

When I've brought English notes back here, no one's looked twice at them - they're just taken.

Ever tried it with a North Irish note?


It pains me to say it, but I rather think it's only Bank of England notes that are, strictly speaking, legal tender.:(:confused

Let them change it at the bank. I can sympathize with smaller shops, which have a high ratio of notes passing through which go straight to other customers, but large businesses with their own cash offices have precious little excuse when, typically, they also display signs which say "the customer is always right".

And those which accept Euros have even less.


When we are independent you will be using the euro eventually so it won't be a problem.

Am I the only one who sees the contradiction in this statement?

[Bad Manners]

I have had an incident whilst travelling in england I pulled into a filling station and filled the car with petrol I then went to pay and they did not want to take my Scottish money to the point they called the police as they were convinced that it was counterfeit. I offered to pay by card but he still insisted on involving the police as he clearly thought I was a criminal. The police arrived and all was explained and to resolve the matter the policeman and his partner changed the money for their own and I then paid with English notes.
The police did say that although Scottish notes are technically not valid it is a very rare instance that things get to this level.
I now pay for everthing on my card (Bank of Scotland card) without anyone giving it a second glance.

[scotsboy]

There was a problem with a lot of fake Scottish notes a few years back. I have had some shop staff have a good look at it, and sometimes check with their supervisor - but never had Scottish (or Northern Irish) notes refused in England. The last time I got a Clydesdale 20 pound note inspected in Reading (House of Fraser I think it was) anyway I said to the lassie, its okay its Scottish, the current exchange rate vlaues it just above an English one, but just call it twenty..........she looked at me, thought for a minute and said "okay then":)

[bettedaviseyes]

Bank of England notes are the only banknotes that are legal tender in England and Wales. ... Scottish notes are not legal tender anywhere in the UK, ...

[golach]

Bank of England notes are the only banknotes that are legal tender in England and Wales. ... Scottish notes are not legal tender anywhere in the UK, ...
OOOH some body better tell the Royal Bank of Scotland , The Bank of Scotland & The Clydesdale Bank then, be cause they are still printing these illegal bank notes and issuing them in good faith. Get the Polis!!![lol]

[balto]

it is only in england that this problem occurs, work in a local shop and many holiday makers request tht we try our best to give them english notes if their change requires it, seems a bit mad to me.

[TBH]

Am I the only one who sees the contradiction in this statement?Was it the independent thingy and being a member of the E.U?:eek:

[Thursolass]

First time on the boards, been lurking around for a long time but couldn't post 'cause my e-mail was one of the "Banned" ones. Couldn't understand that, MSN was an expensive ISP and since I couldn't use a work e-mail I was stuck until I could change the ISP to an acceptable one.
Anyway, finally I've found a topic I can relate to. I used to exchange all the birthday, Christmas money at the airport currency exchange. (I never had a large enough amount for the bank to make it worth their time converting it.) They never questioned the Scottish notes at all, they just looked it up on their chart and it was exchanged without question.

[Welcomefamily]

You think you got problems try doing it with a broad Devonshire accent, having had a number of Hotels save all their pound notes, the last time I went home I had to pay a food bill in a major store which I then counted out a large amount of pound notes.
Not only did they not believe the money was real they also question how I would have scottish notes as I did not speak in a scottish accent. :)

[Welcomefamily]

First time on the boards, been lurking around for a long time but couldn't post 'cause my e-mail was one of the "Banned" ones. Couldn't understand that, MSN was an expensive ISP and since I couldn't use a work e-mail I was stuck until I could change the ISP to an acceptable one.
Anyway, finally I've found a topic I can relate to. I used to exchange all the birthday, Christmas money at the airport currency exchange. (I never had a large enough amount for the bank to make it worth their time converting it.) They never questioned the Scottish notes at all, they just looked it up on their chart and it was exchanged without question.

Welcome to the org.

[Whitewater]

I may perhaps be lucky, but I have not had any trouble with Scottish notes any where in Britain. However, I generally go to a cash machine when I have time and get some of the correct notes. After visiting the Isle of Man I always go to the bank on my return and exchange the manx notes. We always say in Scotland that we accept any British notes, not true, try exchanging manx money.

[George Brims]

I think sometimes the refusal to take Scottish notes is just laziness. When submitting the shop's takings to the bank, the Scottish notes have to be separated. Turn them down, and you save yourself a few minutes work when closing up.

[teenybash]

First time on the boards, been lurking around for a long time but couldn't post 'cause my e-mail was one of the "Banned" ones. Couldn't understand that, MSN was an expensive ISP and since I couldn't use a work e-mail I was stuck until I could change the ISP to an acceptable one.
Anyway, finally I've found a topic I can relate to. I used to exchange all the birthday, Christmas money at the airport currency exchange. (I never had a large enough amount for the bank to make it worth their time converting it.) They never questioned the Scottish notes at all, they just looked it up on their chart and it was exchanged without question.
Hi Thurso Lass............big welcome to you. :Razz

[sandyr]

I used to return to Canada with Scottish Pounds which had to be sent in to the Royal Bank Of Canada Head Office, and it would take approx 21 days to have the amount credited to my account. So now one learns to change any extra cash one has into English 'stuff', if the currency has to be changed. I did once upon a time write a letter to the President whose name was Campbell(perhaps once a Scot), but got the standard reply that it was not legal tender in the true sense of the word.

I have also found a similar situation in Bermuda. When you pay in US dollars, change is always given in Bermudian Dollars which are valued at par, but again it is difficult to exchange...mind you it does give one an incentive to return to both Countries!

Just some really useless info to carry on the conversation!......

[George Brims]

I was just in Alaska (I live in California). The last day the cruise director was telling us the 10 daftest things customers on the cruise ship have asked either him, or someone in earshot. One was how much was the exchange rate going to be for the US dollar once the boat arrived. He told the man it should be very very close to one-to-one.

[wifie]

Here's the RBS take on it!
http://www.rbs.com/about03.asp?id=ABOUT_US/OUR_HERITAGE/OUR_HISTORY/OUR_BANKNOTES/HISTORY_OF_OUR_BANKNOTES

[golach]

Here's the RBS take on it!
http://www.rbs.com/about03.asp?id=ABOUT_US/OUR_HERITAGE/OUR_HISTORY/OUR_BANKNOTES/HISTORY_OF_OUR_BANKNOTES

Thanks Wifie, for that information, I have said many times if you are unsure about anything, come to the Org , and someone with have the answer. So although the Scottish notes are not "Legal Tender" they are "Legal Currency", now that opens another can of worms [lol]

[Welcomefamily]

It they are are legal tender does this make scotland pennyless?