Originally Posted by
exilencfc
They are quite rare and a fair few of those in circulation are fakes, so quite a few businesses don't take them - I used to work for a bakers that didn't. Even if people do take them they will probably look at them suspiciously, test for authenticity etc. I'd definitely try and swop them, they're hassle you don't need
Entirely agree with this, £50s are likely to be treated with suspicion by some shops (generally smaller stores) and you will probably run into some resistance changing them. Scotland and Northern Ireland have £100 notes which are even more difficult to get rid of because of their high value - never mind the complexity of spending a Scottish or (especially) Northern Irish banknote in England!