Valid coins in UK?
 

Hello

I got some UK coins and I am not sure if they are still valid. They are 10 pence, new pence coins from 1969, 1970 and 1974. A bit bigger than the more recent ones.

Here's my 2 pence worth...

They should be legal tender.

It's barely possible they might be worth a few pence more to collectors.

Those older 10p coins were "demonetised" in the early 1990's. They're no longer legal tender, and even banks aren't obliged to exchange them for the current version, though you might possibly find a bank that will.

I think you'd be lucky to find a bank to take them if you aren't a customer - and you will be spending more than 30p of your time anyway ...

The older bronze decimal coins (pre 1992) have a face value less than scrap but you can't legally melt down British coins in the UK.

I believe that the Bank of England will still take them. A little side trip from the standard tourist itinerary, perhaps?

Your New Pence coins will be fine. The 10p is an old one. You shouldn't have any issue with any banks changing them, although it probably isn't worth the effort.

No, and legal tender doesn't matter in the context of a visitor unless he has eaten a restaurant meal before paying.

Correct. HSBC and Lloyds will, but it depends on the teller. I am a customer but I was not asked when exchanging these coins in HSBC.

I believe there are no restrictions on exporting them out of the UK though :D

The BoE only issues and redeems notes. Coins are issued by the Royal Mint, which does not deal with the public except to sell commemoratives.

I expect this sort of question to become more common in 3 years' time when the pound coin is replaced. I suspect that the current coin won't remain valid for very long after the new coin is released - and given that so many are fakes, I wonder whether HSBC will continue to take them. Lloyds does take pre-decimal coins too, if you pack them into bags of full pounds.

I've read this from every direction, but I still don't understand it. I've the uneasy feeling that it's joke I need explainig to me.

And let's face it, smelting copper would be an odd activity, even for a London hotel room.

Legal tender is anything which, if offered in settlement of an obligation that exists, the person recieving is obliged to accept to settle the obligation (the debt). [Or rather, they can not sue the person with the obligation to pay for non payment if they offered the ammount due in legal tender.]

People can choose how they want to be paid before entering into a transaction, therefore unless you have a pre-existing financial obligation/debt involved, then whether what you wish to pay with would be considered legal tender is irrelevant.

Hence the comment about a restaurant meal before paying!

The are further restrictions upon sums involved, coins of value less than a pound (and which have not been demonetised), are cappted at lower ammounts.

And to repeat there is nothing to stop people agreeing to any payment method or terms that they want when entering into a contract. But equally, even if legal tender would be offered, that does not compel someone to enter into a transaction.