Old style £50 notes

[dougall]

Hi All

I got a small telling off today when I took an old fifty pound note for payment it was a real one and they are still legal tender but I was told the bank charges extra for taking them.

Has anyone else in the UK heard of this?

[Kit-Ginevra]

Which type of £50 note was it?
According to the Bank of England,both kinds are current-the 'new'-James Watt which was introduced in 2011 and the 'old' one-Houblon,so they shouldn't charge anything extra for them.

They may charge extra for a withdrawn note-but the last time a £50 was withdrawn was in 1996,so you would get a for accepting that

[dougall]

The oldest current note Sir John Houblon

[Chromatix]

Parallel circulation is going to keep happening for a few years yet. I know I'd be pretty miffed if a shop didn't take my £50 note just because I'd kept it in my emergency-cash stash for a couple of years.

[wolfie]

Parallel circulation is going to keep happening for a few years yet. I know I'd be pretty miffed if a shop didn't take my £50 note just because I'd kept it in my emergency-cash stash for a couple of years.

I'd be VERY surprised if a shop in your area accepted 50 pound notes, regardless of whether they're the current or previous series. On the other hand, I've heard that $5 bills are common around there.

[Chromatix]

Yeah, I should have seen that coming. I meant a shop *in Britain* which would normally accept £50 notes. The same would apply to €50 notes around here, if there was a change in design.

Large notes in general can be problematic, of course, but that has more to do with the amount of change that shops keep on hand, rather than the age of the notes. Did you know that there are €200 and €500 notes in circulation? They are not normally issued in Finland, but Finnish shops often have signs explicitly stating that they will not accept them. Apparently foreigners sometimes come along with them...

[crazylegs]

Any note will always be exchanged at the Bank of England for the face value - good news for those whose emergency stash includes white fivers...

Do other banks charge more* for accepting them? No idea - depends on T&Cs of the account.

*I know that most business accounts have a cash handling fee, it was my understanding that it was on total fee rather than types of notes though.

[wolfie]

Surprised you didn't question why I thought $5 bills would be common in your area. It's a joke - North American slang for a $5 bill is a "fin".

[ArcticChicken]

North American slang for a $5 bill is a "fin".

Where? I ask, because I've never heard that before in my life.

[Argus]

Where? I ask, because I've never heard that before in my life.

I would call that slang obsolete.