EMR refusing Scottish money

[Cloud Strife]

If you visit Scotland withdraw cash only from an English bank eg HSBC. You will get English notes as they aren't allowed to issue Scottish ones.

There's no difference, Scottish and English notes are dispensed interchangeably in Scotland, unless the machine explicitly says that it only provides English notes.

 

[bleeder4]

This has reminded me that I still have a £10 note that was issued in Gibraltar, from a trip there I did last year. I might try using that somewhere just to see what reaction I get!

 

[Bletchleyite]

There's no difference, Scottish and English notes are dispensed interchangeably in Scotland, unless the machine explicitly says that it only provides English notes.

I've never had Scottish notes from HSBC.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

This has reminded me that I still have a £10 note that was issued in Gibraltar, from a trip there I did last year. I might try using that somewhere just to see what reaction I get!

Good luck with that, particularly so if you're wanting to use it to part pay for a GM Wayfarer at Sheffield station.

 

[Haywain]

This has reminded me that I still have a £10 note that was issued in Gibraltar, from a trip there I did last year. I might try using that somewhere just to see what reaction I get!

I suspect that you'll find it near impossible to get rid of other than at a bank.

 

[Deerfold]

Are the ATMs, that do accept cash (at Sheffield or elsewhere in England) actually set up to accept Scottish banknotes? You might think so, but doubt that all are.

I think the idea was that they could obtain English currency fairly easily.

I tend to find when I have Scottish noted a lot of self-service tills accept them with no problems - I've used Sainsburys and Poundland before now (though my local Poundland has removed them). I don't know if any rail TVMs accept them. My last came in my change from buying merch from a band that played Glasgow the previous night.

 

[baz962]

I remember having an argument with a barman in Croydon years ago when he gave me a Scottish £5 note in my change, and I insisted on an English one, because lots of businesses are funny about Scotts currency.

It didn’t help that he happened to be Scottish!

Well you are that one person in the depot that can start an argument in an empty room

 

[Kite159]

Good luck with that, particularly so if you're wanting to use it to part pay for a GM Wayfarer at Sheffield station.

At Sheffield station if you wanted a GM Wayfarer they will probably refuse to sell it outright by making things up like you can only buy it within the area etc .

As for not accepting Scottish notes, makes sense in a way because not all the cashiers will have training in how to spot a real Scottish £10 against a well produced fake £10 and even if they have had the training unless they use it every week it fades away

 

[londonbridge]

At my workplace we are told to call the supervisor to check all Scottish notes. One customer kicked off at a colleague, arguing that he was in a hurry and she was wasting time by calling a manager, and in any case she had to accept it because it was legal tender. After some debate with the supervisor he was refused service and was asked to leave without his purchases.

About a month later the same guy ended up at my till and handed me a Scottish note, I said “one moment please sir” and rang the bell, he then made a play of rifling through his wallet before saying “it’s okay mate, give me that back and take this one”, and handing me an English note…..

I once ended up with an Ulster Bank note after a visit to Liverpool, the supermarket cashier back in London didn’t want to accept it, I didn’t bother arguing and just used it in the self scan on my next visit a couple of days later.

 

[Haywain]

I don't know if any rail TVMs accept them.

LNER TVMs accept Scottish notes, and I would imagine that all Scotrail machines do. Avanti used to have TVMs at Edinburgh, so I would expect that they accept them there, and at Carlisle and (if they have them) at Glasgow Central.

 

[Halwynd]

The last time I looked at a batch of forged Scottish notes, a chap had walked into an English bank branch with a small batch of notes and gave it the usual 'accidentally put 'em through the washing machine' - can you change them?

Not when they all have the same serial number was the reply.

 

[paul1609]

In rural Kent you are more likely to find a business that will take Euros than Scottish or NI banknotes. i always used to get rid of them in the tescos self serve machines when I brought them back from Faslane.
At the Kent & East Sussex Railway we do accept them and Euros but we put them to one side so they are banked and not handed back to customers as change.
Cash generally is becoming a pain because of the amount of change we need to keep. People always seem to tender a £20 note that they have just got out of an ATM for a £2 coffee or ice cream. i can see why the Swanage Railway have decided to go cashless this month. its very time consuming for volunteers to need to travel to the bank to bring back £100s of pound coins and 50ps.

 

[Travelmonkey]

Seems reasonable. Whilst Scottish banknotes are a legal currency, they’re not Legal Tender. i suspect they’re rarely seen by many EMR ticket office staff, so there could be uncertainty as to which notes are genuine. Might cause a few problems at Corby, though.

Corby and the XC Edinburgh calls do spring to mind, I do wonder if you board anyway how a guard would take it.

 

[KT550]

It would have been much simpler if a "Bank of Great Britain" had been formed in 1707 and one set of notes used throughout, rather than allowing pre unification arrangements to continue.

The present system of Scottish notes being deposited in English bank branches and then being repatriated north at great expense is nonsense.

Similarly, Scottish banks used to only distribute their own notes to customers. i.e. an RBS branch would only pay out RBS notes. Is this still the case?
Other banks notes were returned to cash centres for sorting and return to their respective issuers.

I also see that not all Scottish banks issue all denominations.

 

[Travelmonkey]

I know when I asked the bloke in the office he said it was a memo sent out to all EMR stations, just a small anomaly I noticed on my travels, the debate is as lively as I expected although would be a bit more annoying if your at a more out the way station or on a route where guards sell tickets,

 

[Cloud Strife]

This has reminded me that I still have a £10 note that was issued in Gibraltar, from a trip there I did last year. I might try using that somewhere just to see what reaction I get!

Strictly speaking, the GIP is not the same currency as the GBP. It's the same story with the GGP, JEP, IMP, FKP and other currencies linked at par to the GBP (which includes Scottish and Northern Irish notes as well as English notes).

 

[Travelmonkey]

It would have been much simpler if a "Bank of Great Britain" had been formed in 1707 and one set of notes used throughout, rather than allowing pre unification arrangements to continue.

The present system of Scottish notes being deposited in English bank branches and then being repatriated north at great expense is nonsense.

Well we all use the same coinage, Scottish notes are a odd anomaly 3 different issuers 2 looking similar to bank of England with Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank Of Scotland seeming more possible than the clydebank equivalent.

 

[Cloud Strife]

It would have been much simpler if a "Bank of Great Britain" had been formed in 1707 and one set of notes used throughout, rather than allowing pre unification arrangements to continue.

At the time, the Bank of England (and Bank of Scotland) were just private banks, nothing more. The position of the BoE didn't come about until 1844, when new banks were prohibited from issuing banknotes among other reforms. However, while the BoE was already a de facto monopoly in banknote issuance in England and Wales, it wasn't the case in Ireland and Scotland.

This convoluted history is also why the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories have their own currencies.

 

[Haywain]

Strictly speaking, the GIP is not the same currency as the GBP. It's the same story with the GGP, JEP, IMP, FKP and other currencies linked at par to the GBP (which includes Scottish and Northern Irish notes as well as English notes).

However, the railway does accept notes (but not coins) from Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

 

[sannox]

I once ended up with an Ulster Bank note after a visit to Liverpool, the supermarket cashier back in London didn’t want to accept it, I didn’t bother arguing and just used it in the self scan on my next visit a couple of days later.

You end up with NI notes a fair bit in Ayrshire too as a result of travellers to and from NI. Take them back to Glasgow and try to spend them you'll find a similar reaction to spending a Scottish note in England from many people. Self Checkouts usually the best way to use.

 

[wilbers]

Cash generally is becoming a pain because of the amount of change we need to keep. People always seem to tender a £20 note that they have just got out of an ATM for a £2 coffee or ice cream. i can see why the Swanage Railway have decided to go cashless this month. its very time consuming for volunteers to need to travel to the bank to bring back £100s of pound coins and 50ps.

Fair point, although rather than going cashless they could go exact change only.

 

[Deerfold]

You end up with NI notes a fair bit in Ayrshire too as a result of travellers to and from NI. Take them back to Glasgow and try to spend them you'll find a similar reaction to spending a Scottish note in England from many people. Self Checkouts usually the best way to use.

It doesn't help that Northern Bank now trades as Danske Bank and plasters that all over their notes - I'm sure they must get refused as people think they're Danish (which, in a way, they are).

 

[David M]

If you visit Scotland withdraw cash only from an English bank eg HSBC. You will get English notes as they aren't allowed to issue Scottish ones.

Sorry, that's nonsense on 2 counts:
HSBC isn't an English Bank
HSBC machines in Scotland will generally dispense Scottish banknotes

 

[Leisurefirst]

Have they tried that in Corby...?

 

[Wallsendmag]

i remember years ago being asked if we accepted Isle of Man notes by a member of staff, only to go to the counter and find none other than Norman Wisdom standing there.

 

[Leisurefirst]

i remember years ago being asked if we accepted Isle of Man notes by a member of staff, only to go to the counter and find none other than Norman Wisdom standing there.

 

[londonbridge]

However, the railway does accept notes (but not coins) from Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

But Guernsey, Jersey and IoM coins work in vending machines, do they not, so you can always get rid of them there. I’m sure I’ve found Baliwick Of Jersey 2p’s or IoM 20p’s in my till drawer that one of the colleagues has inadvertently taken in.

 

[kkong]

I remember once proffering a Clydesdale Bank £5 note at an Upper Crust outlet at Derby station and the person said "sorry, we don't accept Euros".

It was accepted after I suggested they take a closer look at the note.

If you visit Scotland withdraw cash only from an English bank eg HSBC. You will get English notes as they aren't allowed to issue Scottish ones.

That is simply incorrect.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

HSBC isn't an English Bank

You may be mistaken. HSBC UK Bank plc is an English bank. Its immediate and ultimate holding company is HSBC Holdings plc, which is also an English company.

 

[Travelmonkey]

You may be mistaken. HSBC UK Bank plc is an English bank. Its immediate and ultimate holding company is HSBC Holdings plc, which is also an English company.

Indeed similar to Santander having Spanish ties but also UK registered.