U.K. and Ireland - Scottish currency

We'll be in Scotland late this summer before moving south to England.

I'm told that English merchants are very unwilling to accept Scottish pounds.

Does anyone have any experience here?

Some will accept Scottish notes, some won't. They don't have to accept them as they aren't legal in England and it costs them to take to the bank to change them.

The simplest thing to do is ensure that you have as little Scottish currency as possible when you leave Scotland - some ATMs such as those associated with Barclays & National Westminster as well as those at train stations and airports will issue Bank of England notes so you can use them to ensure you don't have Scottish notes when you leave

Personally I've never had any issue with having Scottish notes accepted in England. I've noticed recently that they can at times confuse some of the Eastern Europeans that seem to power a large part of our service economy these days, but they will generally just ask one of their colleagues or supervisors to confirm that it is legal tender.

Some will accept Scottish notes, some won't. They don't have to accept them as they aren't legal in England and it costs them to take to the bank to change them.

I assume you mean "legal tender". Scottish notes are clearly "legal" in that there is nothing illegal in using them anywhere in the UK, however you are correct in stating that they are not legal tender in England, although it might interest you to know that they are not actually "legal tender" in Scotland either.

As a Scot living in England... It depends where and what. The smaller the place and the larger the denomination, the harder it is to spend, generally speaking - particularly the newer Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale notes, which aren't very well recognised in the South of England.

Usually, though, I make it clear that it's that or nothing, and that works :)

If you get your pounds in advance they'll likely be Bank of England notes which are universally accepted. If you're planning on getting them from a cash machine, try to use a non-Scottish bank - RBS, Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale all issue their own notes so you're more likely to get Scottish ones.

You do get the occasional person who won't accept Scottish notes in England, but on the whole it really isn't a massive issue, so try not to worry about it!

I've personally never had a problem using Scottish notes in England. Major shops accept them, although I suppose that there will be some employees who are unused to them and so will query them, or even refuse them. If the worst happens, a bank will change them for you, but I'd be surprised if that proved to be necessary.

Anyone have any experience with Northern Irish notes in England? I made sure to get rid of all mine before heading back to the mainland (via the Eurozone), since at least one person indicated they would be treated with way more skepticism than Scottish notes. I'm curious more than anything…

Anyone have any experience with Northern Irish notes in England? I made sure to get rid of all mine before heading back to the mainland (via the Eurozone), since at least one person indicated they would be treated with way more skepticism than Scottish notes. I'm curious more than anything…

In my experience, they're much rarer than Scottish notes. Though that may be because I'm on the East coast. (I swear the buffet car on East Coast trains has a secret stash of Scottish notes that they save for when they hear an English accent!)

I'd imagine that they're a bit more common in and around Stranraer (where the ferry from Belfast arrives in Scotland) and such places.

But in general, they're probably harder to shift than Scottish notes. If you get stuck with one, keep trying until someone accepts it. You can always take it to a bank and hope a teller takes pity on you (if they try to charge you, or insist that you need to be a customer, walk out and try a different bank).

But in general, they're probably harder to shift than Scottish notes.That has been my experience. Supermarkets are rarely a problem but small corner shops and pubs/bars can be.

I've occasionally had problems with Scottish notes, but like stut, refused to tender anything else. £20 are viewed with more suspicion than £10 as there are some forged £20 going around, and retailers are much less likely to be able to spot a forged £20 Scottish note than an English one.

Scottish notes are ugly, and look like they’re off a monopoly board.

You can get proper English notes from the cash machine at Edinburgh airport, or wait till your back south of the border.

I always stock up on proper money before I travel to Edinburgh, and try to avoid getting the funny money in change.

There’s really no problem avoiding Scottish notes all together, an I suggest that's what you should aim to do; there’s no problem spending English notes in Scotland, whereas the reverse isn’t always the case.

I assume you mean "legal tender". Scottish notes are clearly "legal" in that there is nothing illegal in using them anywhere in the UK.
No I mean legal, the only banknotes that are legal in England & Wales are those issued by the Bank of England. Anything else is just accepted (or in the case of Northern Ireland notes NOT accepted outside a few pubs in Glasgow)

Unless you're changing a lot of cash and not using plastic, you shouldn't be left with a lot of Scottish Cash.

I'm sure most banks South of the Border will change the funny money for you, if you experience difficulties. Which you should not.

It used to be the further south you went the weirder the look you got when handing one over......or maybe people just get weirder the further south you go?

I never experienced a knock back in all the years I ventured across the border or even the few years I stayed in England. I remember the French used to give you a poorer rate when changing Scottish bank notes though.

We'll be in Scotland late this summer before moving south to England.

I'm told that English merchants are very unwilling to accept Scottish pounds.

Does anyone have any experience here?

Spend all your Scottish Pounds on beer, whisky, haggis, and IrnBru before crossing the border. Problem solved.

Spend all your Scottish Pounds on beer, whisky, haggis, and IrnBru before crossing the border. Problem solved.

Or, as it's known locally, 'a meal deal'.

No I mean legal, the only banknotes that are legal in England & Wales are those issued by the Bank of England. Anything else is just accepted (or in the case of Northern Ireland notes NOT accepted outside a few pubs in Glasgow)

As the Captain said above, they're not legal tender - not even in Scotland. Nor are Bank of England notes in Scotland. But they're are legal currency everywhere in the UK, and are authorised by an Act of Parliament.
There's some general information at http://www.scotbanks.org.uk/legal_position.php and the legal position at http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/about/scottish_northernireland.aspx

In practice, you won't have trouble spending Scottish notes in England, other than the relatively rare £1 notes.

I quite like using them to pay for rounds of drinks, because a barman is unlikely to take back a few pints once they've been poured - but it's been quite some time since anyone's actually tried to refuse to take one. Though I did once have to try to explain the person and the map on an old Clydesdale Bank £10 (http://www.scotbanks.org.uk/banknoteapp/CLYDE_10.html) at the work canteen at 3am, when neither of us was really awake enough to comprehend it why there was a map of part of Nigeria on something Scottish.

Also, once someone's pointed out to you that the Exchange Building (click on the banknote on the second row on this page (http://www.scotbanks.org.uk/banknoteapp/CLYDE_20.html) to see it) looks like a doner kebab, you really can't unsee it.

I never experienced a knock back in all the years I ventured across the border or even the few years I stayed in England. I remember the French used to give you a poorer rate when changing Scottish bank notes though.
Spotted this in Toronto a few years ago:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2129/2454759204_9e59c9f2c0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/teflon/2454759204/)

It's a bit hard to make out, but Scotland had a better rate listed than England!

No I mean legal, the only banknotes that are legal in England & Wales are those issued by the Bank of England. Anything else is just accepted (or in the case of Northern Ireland notes NOT accepted outside a few pubs in Glasgow)

No, in that case you do mean 'legal tender'.
Accepting them is perfectly 'legal'. I.e. it is not 'illegal' in any way.

As per teflons post above.
[N.b. I'd be making a complaint about the flag used for England in addition to the rate differential.]

Or, as it's known locally, 'a meal deal'.

:D:D:D

I'd imagine that they're a bit more common in and around Stranraer (where the ferry from Belfast arrives in Scotland) and such places.

They are difficult to spend in Scotland where you might think they would be used to a variety of notes. I remember the story a professor at the University of Ulster told me - he was in Glasgow and offered to pay a bill with a £10 Bank of Ireland note, but they wouldn't accept it. He found a Bank of England note in his wallet. In turn he refused a £5 Bank of Scotland note as part of his change explaining that, 'You wouldn't take one of mine so why should I take one of yours?'

As someone originally from Northern Ireland but who works in Scotland and England, I am fairly militant about this. I normally just threaten to walk out of the said shop/establishment if they refuse accept payment with a N Ireland (or less frequently, Scottish) banknote, in 7.5 years of doing this I've only actually had to leave once, in all the other circumstances the cashier has relented.

If you're less brave than I am, try the Self Service checkouts in any major supermarket which generally accept all Sterling banknotes without question. Alternatively, the nearest post office will exchange Scottish/NI banknotes.

Alternatively, the nearest post office will exchange Scottish/NI banknotes.I did once pay with a Scottish note in a London Post Office. The cashier turned to his colleague, held up the note, and asked "what is this - is it Welsh?" :)

It is the case that Northern Ireland notes are more likely to be seen suspiciously, especially those from First Trust who have only been doing them for a few years and many have never heard of them.

I believe the Royal Bank in Scotland still does a £1 paper note, which is particularly difficult to get rid of in England where this value has for long only been a coin.

There are also Isle of Man and Channel Island notes, which are even more of a challenge in smaller shops.

In Northern Ireland there was an extremely large robbery of Northern Bank notes some years ago, big enough to cause the bank to withdraw rapidly all in circulation and issue a new and different design, and as in the UK they were rare anyway those were particularly difficult to get rid of, as people were not familiar with what was old (which were all officially cancelled) and what was new.

RBS withdrew the £1 note a while back - they seemed to ship most of them to Orkney and Shetland when they were still in circulation.

I haven't seen a £1 note in circulation up here for 3-4 years - and the last time was on the northern isles.

As someone originally from Northern Ireland but who works in Scotland and England, I am fairly militant about this. I normally just threaten to walk out of the said shop/establishment if they refuse accept payment with a N Ireland (or less frequently, Scottish) banknote, in 7.5 years of doing this I've only actually had to leave once, in all the other circumstances the cashier has relented.

If you're less brave than I am, try the Self Service checkouts in any major supermarket which generally accept all Sterling banknotes without question. Alternatively, the nearest post office will exchange Scottish/NI banknotes.
Interestingly, I went to a Nat West in Skipton (I think it was Skipton - somewhere nearby anyway). I asked for a Scottish note and the manager refused to give any to me. He said that no bank in England was permitted to give its customers Scottish notes. Any that they got, they had to return to the issuing bank. Who knew?

I have once received by mistake a few Scottish notes in an ATM withdrawal from the Nationwide in England.

It is the case that Northern Ireland notes are more likely to be seen suspiciously, especially those from First Trust who have only been doing them for a few years and many have never heard of them.

One wonders what they will make of the rebranding of Northern Bank as Danske Bank!

Interestingly, I went to a Nat West in Skipton (I think it was Skipton - somewhere nearby anyway). I asked for a Scottish note and the manager refused to give any to me. He said that no bank in England was permitted to give its customers Scottish notes. Any that they got, they had to return to the issuing bank. Who knew?
I suppose makes sense, because England does have legal tender and they are not legal tender - only honoured promissary notes.

One wonders what they will make of the rebranding of Northern Bank as Danske Bank!
This does seem an extraordinary rebranding of a long-established and well-known business name for a meaningless and unknown new one. Is it connected with the notoriety from the large robbery some years ago, universally known as "the Northern Bank Robbery" ?

This does seem an extraordinary rebranding of a long-established and well-known business name for a meaningless and unknown new one. Is it connected with the notoriety from the large robbery some years ago, universally known as "the Northern Bank Robbery" ?

This had actually past me by (I spend far too much time away from home these days). This might be the end of Northern Bank notes, my understanding is that the right to issue notes cannot be inherited when a bank ceases to exist. So if Northern Bank Limited disappears, its note issuing powers cannot be carried on by Danske, unless an act of parliament transfers the right to issue banknotes to Danske Bank. This is what happened when Bank of Ireland UK was created in recent years, the right to print bank notes was tranferred to BoI UK by the Bank of Ireland (UK) Plc Bill

As a relatively frequent visitor to both England and Scotland (once or twice every year) I do my best to avoid collecting Scottish bank notes as a tourist. I've had them refused a number of times, especially in small shops so I just don't need the hastle. When in Scotland I prefer to use bank cards or keep cash handy.

I was in London two weeks ago and after being refused the use of a £10 Scottish note in a shop I used it successfully (after scrutiny) for a meal with an outdoor vendor in Covent Gardens.

Generally when receving change in Scotland I ask for English notes and most vendors comply if they can.

and it costs them to take to the bank to change them.

No it doesn't, the bank will just take them....

There are also Isle of Man and Channel Island notes, which are even more of a challenge in smaller shops.

That's not surprising. I don't think I've every seen a Channel Islands note in circulation in the UK.

I suppose, no matter what it says on the internet, any note is only 'worth' something if the market says it is. And in this case, a large portion of my notion of 'worth' is how easy they will be to get rid of!

I know Scottish notes are relatively easy to offload. NI notes less so. I suspect CI notes would be even trickier, which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as it would make me reluctant to accept one.

In the 1980s I lived in Weymouth, and I recall that on the trains they used to announce that they would take Jersey and Guernsey coins at the buffet but not notes.

There was a notice in the Post Office reminding people that CI stamps were not valid on letters.

In the 1980s I lived in Weymouth, and I recall that on the trains they used to announce that they would take Jersey and Guernsey coins at the buffet but not notes.
The railway would be fine disposing of the money to their bank, but the difficulty comes in using it as change. Often on the southbound train from Edinburgh to London, if you board at somewhere like Doncaster you can find that the buffet attendant has only Scottish notes left for change, due to many paying in Scottish but asking for only English back again.

The railway would be fine disposing of the money to their bank, but the difficulty comes in using it as change. Often on the southbound train from Edinburgh to London, if you board at somewhere like Doncaster you can find that the buffet attendant has only Scottish notes left for change, due to many paying in Scottish but asking for only English back again.
I definitely used my last Scottish £20 note as part of my weekend first upgrade on Dundee-KGX one time. I figured it was a very easy way to dispose of the note, so I wasn't in a rush to get rid of it.