According to the Bank of England`s website, more than £6 billion of paper is still in circulation with economist Adam Smith and more than £8 billion of banknotes with engineers Boulton and Watt. That`s over 300 million individual £20 notes and 160 million £50 notes. You can find information on exchanging withdrawn banknotes, Scottish and Northern Ireland banknotes and other topics in our banknotes section. From Saturday 1 October, the Bank of Scotland`s £20 and £50 notes will no longer be legal tender, while Bank of England notes for the same denominations will expire on Friday (30 September). Before that, we design a new banknote and start issuing it. Our banknotes always retain their face value. If your local bank, mortgage company or post office does not accept them, you can exchange them with us. Many common and secure payment methods such as cheques, debit cards and contactless payment methods are not legal tender. But even here, it makes no difference in everyday life. The Bank of Scotland said customers will be able to deposit their paper notes into their accounts as usual after the September 30 deadline, while non-Bank of Scotland customers will be able to exchange the paper notes for a polymer version up to a value of £250. The banknote design process was touted as “working with the Scottish people”, involving a total of 1,178 Scots. Nile HQ,[15] a strategic design firm led the redesign process and De La Rue printed the notes. Each note contributes to an overall theme “Fabric of Nature”.
Given the national importance of the banknotes, Nile HQ invited Scottish designers, photographers and calligraphers to develop the creative concept of the new banknotes (O Street[16], Graven Images[17], Timorous Beasties[18], Stuco[19] and Susie Leiper[20]). Non-Bank of Scotland customers can exchange paper notes for a polymer version up to a value of £250. Scottish paper banknotes are being actively phased out across the country as polymer banknotes become more widely used. “The new 50-pound notes, like the 10-pound and 20-pound polymer notes, contain a tactile feature that helps visually impaired people identify the note. Since 2015, polymer banknotes have replaced newly printed banknotes due to new security features and environmental benefits due to their longevity. It will be just over a year since the new 50-pound polymer notes – with portraits of Sir Walter Scott and Flora Stevenson – were put into circulation. Banknotes from the former Famous Scots series depict notable Scottish historical figures and associated objects and places. [26] The £20 and £50 notes are the last to be withdrawn from circulation, with the £5 and £10 notes having been withdrawn from circulation on 2 March 2018. Legal tender has a narrow technical meaning that has no use in everyday life. This means that if you offer to pay a debt to someone who is fully legal tender, they cannot sue you for non-repayment.
Scottish banknotes are legal tender – that is, they are approved by the British Parliament. However, Scottish banknotes are not legal tender, not even in Scotland. Indeed, no banknote (including Bank of England notes!) can claim the term “legal tender” north of the border, and the Scottish economy seems to be able to do without this legal protection. Her Majesty`s Treasury is responsible for determining which banknotes are “legal tender” in the United Kingdom. You may have heard someone in a store say, “But it`s legal tender!” Most people think that this means that the store has to accept the payment form. But this is not the case. “Postmasters and their staff are on hand to provide human assurance that your old notes have been deposited into your bank account and will also issue a receipt. Most post offices are open late, even on Fridays. But the Bank of England says there are still £20 paper notes and £50 notes worth £8 billion in circulation. On occasion, the Royal Bank of Scotland issues commemorative banknotes. Examples include the £1 note issued to mark Alexander Graham Bell`s 150th birthday in 1997, the £20 note commemorating the 100th birthday of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 2000, the £5 note in honour of veteran golfer Jack Nicklaus at his last open championship in St Andrews in 2005 and the £10 note commemorating Queen Elizabeth II`s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
These notes are highly sought after by collectors and rarely remain in circulation for long. If you want to exchange banknotes at the post office, you need to check that your bank is registered to receive cash deposits. Swiss Post will then deposit the money into your account, which you can then withdraw. Scottish banknotes are unusual, firstly because they are issued by retail banks rather than state central banks, and secondly because they are technically legal tender anywhere in the UK – not even in Scotland, where no banknotes – even those issued by the Bank of England – are legally defined as legal tender. [2] [3] Formally, they are classified as promissory notes, and the law requires issuing banks to hold a sum of Bank of England banknotes or gold equal to the total value of the notes issued. [4] The Clydesdale Bank currently has two sets of banknotes in circulation. The latest set of banknotes, the Polymer series, entered circulation in March 2015 when Clydesdale Bank became the first bank in the UK to issue polymer notes. The £5 commemorative notes, issued to mark the 125th anniversary of the construction of the Forth Bridge, include several new security features, including a reflective graphic printed above a transparent window inside the banknote. [23] [24] Additional polymer series notes will be introduced over time and will replace previous paper notes: the public was invited to issue or exchange non-polymeric five- and ten-pound notes before March 1, 2018, which have now been withdrawn from circulation. [6] Scottish banknotes are the pound sterling notes issued by three Scottish retail banks and circulating in Scotland.
