Just slightly out of date

[Marmalady]

So it was fairly busy at work, and a group (family?) came to my till. One of them, an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair, handed me some stationery items. I rang them through and put them in a bag (I'm nice like that).

Me : That will be £3.79, please.

The gentleman got a note out of his wallet and gave it to me. I looked at it and .......

Me : I'm sorry sir but I can't accept this. You'll have to take this to your bank if you want to get five pounds for it.
EG : Why? What's the matter with it?
Me: Oh I don't think there's anything actually wrong with it, sir, I'm sure it's a proper note and everything - it's just that these haven't been in circulation for about 20 years.......

The people with him fell about laughing saying things like 'No surprise there' and 'Shows how often that wallet gets opened'. He was laughing too, luckily, took the old fiver back and gave me a £10 note - a current one this time.
Call me sad, but when I got home I Googled that old note and it ceased being legal tender in 1991. I have co workers who are younger than that fiver.

[Damien]

That's awesome, were there any moths that flew out too?

It's good tat they all could have a good laugh about it.

[tollbaby]

Notes are actually no longer legal tender in the UK after they're removed from circulation???? Geez, I have old $2 that are still considered acceptable here in Canada (we haven't had $1 or $2 for quite a while, and these are OLD $2).

[PepperElf]

maybe he can save it then... might eventually be worth more?

[Marmalady]

The old notes are no longer legal tender in that shops, businesses etc are not obliged to accept them as payment (and indeed will not).
However, if you do turn up an old note like that and take it to your bank, then they must give you a current note for the same value - hence the words 'I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of £(whatever)' on each note. So he won't lose that money, the notes will always be honoured by the banks however old they are.
I don't think they are worth any more than their face value though, not those ones anyway, the old 'white' fivers would be.

[Dreamstalker]

We have 3 pound notes in a frame on the wall--one, blue polymer fiver, and a Northern Bank twenty from before a massive bank heist (after that I believe all notes issued by that bank were redesigned and the old ones destroyed)

[Magpie]

I know in Canada that they took the $500 bill out of circulation ages ago. However, it's still legal tender. The catch is, if you EVER find one you don't spend it for face value, especially if it's in good condition. You can get significantly more than that.

There was a story on the radio about a guy who found a couple of crisp $500 bills when cleaning out a relative's attic after they died. The guy used them to pay the caterer for his wedding. After a long argument, the caterer took them, and they were accepted by the bank. The funny/sad part here is that the bills probably would have paid for the entire wedding (and maybe honeymoon, if the wedding budget was $1000 for catering, although that might have been a deposit). The bank, of course, upon receiving the notes sent them to be destroyed. The story gets out, like this sort of thing does, and very shortly no one believes it. Until the list of currency comes out the next year. And there are two serial numbers taken off the list of $500 notes still in circulation.

[Pagan]

Notes are actually no longer legal tender in the UK after they're removed from circulation???? Geez, I have old $2 that are still considered acceptable here in Canada (we haven't had $1 or $2 for quite a while, and these are OLD $2).

Same here. I've got a $2US bill around here somewhere. And some Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony dollars, too. Not that I want to, but I could out and spend them today.

[dbuzman]

And some Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony dollars, too.

The post office uses dollar coins in their vending machines. Some food vending companies have their machines take the coins too so the coins aren't actually out of circulation.

[Dreamstalker]

Pagan, if any of your SBA dollars are "wide rim" they can be worth quite a bit above face.

http://www.bonanzle.com/forums/1/topics/75656 (posted for reference photos only)

[bean]

The post office uses dollar coins in their vending machines. Some food vending companies have their machines take the coins too so the coins aren't actually out of circulation.

The post offices around here now only take credit/debit for self service machines. Although at the one by me, there's still a sign that says "Dollar changer on next wall"... next wall is completely blank, but you can see where the change machine used to be.

[Pagan]

The post offices around here now only take credit/debit for self service machines. Although at the one by me, there's still a sign that says "Dollar changer on next wall"... next wall is completely blank, but you can see where the change machine used to be.

The post office by me doesn't even have self-service machines anymore. Which is what led to the 10 minute wait I had yesterday just to get one stamp to mail my dad's Father's Day card.