NI Pounds same as GB Pounds?

Endurance Man

Quick question, wrong forum but figured i would get speedier response here. Are the pounds in NI the same as the pounds in Great Britain mainland? My dad seems to think that the NI pounds are different and cant be used over in the UK.

Cheers

Attol

Look different but are the exact same.

lilrayosunshine

They look different but are the same and have the queen's head on them..
It's all sterling!

Ruu_Old

Moved, next time you'll be banned. Nawty, nawty, you are here long enough to know where things go and not to post in AH for a "speedier response". Don't go adding to the problem of dead forums by not using them.

Devon

Absolutely correct. NI notes are not recognised as currency over on the UK mainland. They only recognise currency from the Bank of England over there.

In NI they recognise currency from the Bank of Ireland, Northern Bank, First Trust Bank, Ulster Bank and the Bank of England.

Endurance Man

Devon wrote:

Absolutely correct. NI notes are not recognised as currency over on the UK mainland. They only recognise currency from the Bank of England over there.

In NI they recognise currency from the Bank of Ireland, Northern Bank, First Trust Bank, Ulster Bank and the Bank of England.

Crap, that is so useless, they are the same country arent they . This means i have to change all my money when i get over there?
That sucks.

spurious

Ask the banks in the north to give you 'real' sterling. They won't take those northern notes in Britain - there is the same problem if you want to use Bank of Scotland notes in England. United Kingdom indeed.

I couldn't get northern notes changed in a small high street bank in England - had to go to a big branch and even then was made feel like I had printed them myself.

Oriel

That's true, I have to go to the cash machine when I get over there. Some places will accept the NI notes, but not all places. They are perfectly entitled to refuse them.

Attol

I've used them in shops in England (Birmingham) loads of times. Got a bit of confused looks but then when I said they were from NI they accepted them.

robinph

It's all very well them allowing the banks in Scotland an NI to print their own notes but they should really force them to follow the same basic standard design to stop issues like this where you have difficulty using their own currency when moving around within the same country. If they just get to pick their own reverse side design with the notable historical figure pictured then it would be along the same lines as the Euro coins having a national side but at least they still look the same otherwise.

pickarooney

You can spend the same ten-euro note in Gweedore and Salonkia (well, not really, as once you've spent it in Donegal it's going to be hard to spend it again in Greece) but in no two parts of the UK have they interchangeable pounds. Great stuff.

robinph

pickarooney wrote:

You can spend the same ten-euro note in Gweedore and Salonkia (well, not really, as once you've spent it in Donegal it's going to be hard to spend it again in Greece) but in no two parts of the UK have they interchangeable pounds. Great stuff.

The Welsh don't get to come up with their own designs.

Wishbone Ash

pickarooney wrote:

in no two parts of the UK have they interchangeable pounds. Great stuff.

Do Wales and England not use the same notes? (EDIT - beat me to it robinph!)


Off Topic (apologies) - Has anyone seen any of the NI George Best fivers? Everyone must be holding on to them.

Endurance Man

Bugger, what a pain in the ass. I hope there are banks open in london tommorow that will change them for us .

robinph

Endurance Man wrote:

Bugger, what a pain in the ass. I hope there are banks open in london tommorow that will change them for us .

You shouldn't have any trouble finding a bank to change them in London, if you do though you could always try a foreign currency exchange and see if they will just let you do a swap for some "real" notes for free.

Victor

pickarooney wrote:

You can spend the same ten-euro note in Gweedore and Salonkia (well, not really, as once you've spent it in Donegal it's going to be hard to spend it again in Greece) but in no two parts of the UK have they interchangeable pounds. Great stuff.

Eh, Gweedore and Salonkia both use euros.

eth0_

Victor wrote:

Eh, Gweedore and Salonkia both use euros.

Eh, I think that was his point

Victor

Doh! I thought he said "ten-pound note in Gweedore and Salonkia"

Glazun

My parents once traveled from the north to london, being in the north they figured they'd take out a lot of money from the bank, so they'd be covered for the duration of the holiday. However.. every place in London refused to take the money, even the banks refused. Its probably changed by now though.

Slutmonkey57b

The reason you can't use Norn Irish and Scottish notes in England is perfectly simple - they're not money.

If you look at the front of the notes, they all state

<Sectarian Bank of ****land> promise to pay the bearer WHATEVER AMOUNT sterling at the headquarters.

Basically, they're just bearer notes you can exchange for real money. They're not legal tender. All legal tender in the UK has to have the monarch's head on it, and any illegal tender cannot have the queen's likeness on it.

vector

Slutmonkey57b wrote:

...
<Sectarian Bank of ****land> promise to pay the bearer WHATEVER AMOUNT sterling at the headquarters...

so holding NI/Scottish notes is actually risky as Sectarian Bank of ****land Plc (a company) could go bust and your note could become worthless?

Well you learn something new every day.

Colonel Sanders

Its a bit of a farcical situation alright. I understand scotland and NI wanting to have their own notes etc but the fact that they then will not be accepted in other parts of the UK is ludicrous. I've been caught out before and so have most people I know. As someone else pointed out why not have a system where all countries have a common front side of a note with their national emblem on the oreverse side like the euro coins?

Victor

Because the queen isn't very popular in West Belfast.

Colonel Sanders

well then maybe the common side should not have the queens face on it.

I remember getting of a ferry in belfast and a friend of mine being laughed at because he tried to spend bank of caledonia sterling in a fast food restraunt. However a short boat trip across to scotland and they were welcomed with open arms. Ridiculous,

slave1

when I was living in London and home on some holidays I was low on sterling so got some from one of the banks here, they were NI notes, no shop or bank in London - shops I tried and all the major banks - would touch them, had to wait until I came home to get some worth

Endurance Man

Cheers for all the info ^^, a Foreign exchange place changed them at the airport free of charge and the good times began.

Hagar

They don't have a Queen on them. They have a King.

hiscan

was in a pub in london last year and handed in a northern irish 20 pound note and the barmaid took it to the manager to see if she could take it they accepted it and i made sure the next time i went to england i took money out of the hole in the wall with my credit card:o

damnyanks

robinph wrote:

The Welsh don't get to come up with their own designs.

Cause they aren't considered a country. NI and Scotland are.

Solair

It's a very strange setup.

In 1921 the Bank of England gained a legal monopoly in England and Wales to issue banknotes, however in Scotland, Northern Ireland etc there are other banks licenced to issue sterling notes!

It's an utterly bizare system:

Bank of England notes are the only banknotes that are legal tender in England and Wales. Scottish, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and Manx banknotes are not legal tender in England and Wales. However, they are not illegal under English law and creditors and traders may accept them if they so choose.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland no banknotes – not even ones issued in those nations – are legal tender, although Bank of England one pound notes were when they existed: Bank of England notes of under five pounds value are legal tender. Scottish and Northern Irish notes are 'promissory notes' (defined as legal currency), essentially cheques made out from the bank to 'the bearer', as the wording on each note says.

Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_banknotes

It's a bit whacko to put it mildly.