Sterling Notes

YourName

I have bought sterling in advance of going on my holidays in Scotland, however I have received Bank of England and NI sterling, can I use this in Scotland or should I change it to Scottish Sterling.

I am sure Bank of England would be accepted, well I hope, but the majority of what I have is NI Sterling.

Thanks for any help people can give.

Jack B. Badd

God, and they give out about the euro!

English notes should be fine anywhere in the UK. NI notes (like Scottish) aren't legal tender as far as I'm aware. Technically they can be accepted in the rest of the UK but I'd imagine smaller retailers might refuse to accept them. If I were you, I'd try to get the NI notes changed to English ones before you go.

Captain Commie

Jack B. Badd wrote: »

NI notes (like Scottish) aren't legal tender as far as I'm aware.

They are legal tender, its just that cause alot of retailers in England are so small minded that they only think Bank of England notes are legal. If they weren't legal tender, then why would the British government grant the banks in NI and Scotland the permission to print notes?

This is something that has annoyed me for years. When i was traveling to England i would normally lift some cash at home or be given cash by family members and then jump on a flight/ferry only to find that i would then have to go to a bank in england to get it changed.

I remember one incident where I was in a small shop and only had one of the Northern Bank "plastic fivers" on me, shop owner turned round, took the fiver, looked at it for a good couple mins then handed it back and asked why i was trying to use pretend money, so spent around 10 mins explaining to this muppet that it is legal tender, one of the points i used was that i had a couple of £1 coins that were in my pocket from home, and i asked him if they were fine to which he said yes, so i turned it round on him and told him they were from NI and how if coins from NI were legal could notes not be, he gave up at this point and accepted the plastic fiver.

Under law they have no right to refuse the money as payment for goods once informed that what you are giving them is legal tender. If a retailer is being really stubborn over it, just go to the bank and ask them to change it for BoE notes

Jack B. Badd

From the Bank Of England website FAQ:
Are Scottish & Northern Irish notes legal tender?
In short ‘No’ these notes are not legal tender; only Bank of England notes are legal tender but only in England and Wales. The term legal tender does not in itself govern the acceptability of banknotes in transactions. Whether or not notes have legal tender status, their acceptability as a means of payment is essentially a matter for agreement between the parties. Legal tender has a very narrow technical meaning in relation to the settlement of debt. If a debtor pays in legal tender the exact amount he owes under the terms of a contract, he has good defence in law if he is subsequently sued for non-payment of the debt. In ordinary everyday transactions, the term‘legal tender’ has very little practical application.

Either way, OP, you may have no hassle at all with your NI notes. Changing to BoE notes would ensure lack of hassle though. Enjoy your trip

YourName

Or would I be better off just changing them to Bank of Scotland notes??? Since I won't be anywhere else but Scotland, or is Bank of England notes just more widely accepted in Scotland??? Do you think the banks charge for changing them over???

Thank god I thought of this.

mlumley

One of the main reasons that traders in England will not take Scotish or N.I notes is that they are not commonly used in southern, midlands etc and are not sure if they are real. Scotish notes and NI notes are issued by banks in those countries not the bank of England. It's just they arnt sure the notes aren't fake, they dont see many of them.