The status of Scottish currency as legal tender still exists today. Although it is not legal tender anywhere in the UK, not even in Scotland itself! For instructions on the legal status of coins, please follow the link for the Mint. 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. The banknotes issued by all seven are legal tender and can be accepted throughout the UK. But that doesn`t necessarily mean they will be. The shortest answer is yes, but no company is legally obligated to accept your money. In England, no company is legally obliged to accept banknotes printed by Scottish and Northern Irish banks. In England, Royal Mint coins and Bank of England banknotes are legal tender, while in Scotland and Northern Ireland, only Royal Mint coins are legal tender. 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. Although merchants and creditors have the right to refuse change, Scotland continues to use, print and distribute its own banknotes, which will continue to be used for payments. Today, Scottish banknotes continue to be produced by only 3 national banks in denominations of £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100. The Royal Bank of Scotland, the Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank all have their own unique and beautiful designs for each denomination, similar to the different banks in Hong Kong. The fact that banknotes are not defined as legal tender means that they are not withdrawn from circulation in the same way as Bank of England banknotes, which cease to be legal tender at some point. Instead, Scottish banks withdraw old notes from circulation when they are in the bank. All notes still in circulation will continue to be cashed by banks,[5] but retailers may refuse to accept older notes. [6] The question of “legal tender” is therefore a kind of diversionary manoeuvre. More importantly, whether the ranks south of the border are accepted and what recourse a person has when they are not.
Our tickets are no longer legal tender if we withdraw them. We usually indicate several months in advance the date on which we withdraw a note. The Bank of England`s website can also help clarify what is meant by “legal tender” and how little practical meaning the term has in everyday transactions. www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender The legal tender status of Scottish banknotes still exists today. Although it is not legal tender anywhere in the UK, not even in Scotland itself! There is no reason to distinguish between Scottish banknotes and other banknotes as an acceptable means of payment. It is high time we gave force of law to the well-known term “legal tender,” said Carmichael. “I hope this law will encourage businesses across the UK to recognise and accept Scottish currency.” Although Scottish banknotes can be accepted in England, they are not legal tender. A few days before the outbreak of the First World War, the British turned to banks to convert silver into gold. According to the Royal Bank of Scotland, “large crowds lined up outside the Bank of England.” In just 6 days, the Bank of England paid “£12.3 million of its £26.5 million in gold coin reserves”. The effects of the sudden introduction of gold coins forced the Bank of England to turn to paper money for fear of completely depleting its gold reserves.
While notes of £5 and over already existed in England, the considerable amount of money these notes represented at the time meant that many people had never owned or even seen a banknote. The government desperately tried to convince the British to use paper money for everyday transactions in order to save the country`s gold deposits. In Scotland, however, the transition from gold to paper money was much easier. While Bank of England banknotes have been in circulation in Scotland since their introduction, Scottish banknotes still exist as legal tender. Although banknotes can be refused by law, as many Englishmen have learned the hard way, many shops, restaurants and bars still accept these notes in Scotland (and England, if the merchant is happy to accept!) and tourists often take them home as a reminder of their visit. The Scottish Bankers Committee advises those holding Scottish money not necessarily to rely on these notes outside Scotland, particularly when travelling abroad. Don`t carry large banknotes and instead use credit/debit cards and traveler`s checks. 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] Scottish banknotes are legal tender, so why are banknotes that should be accepted everywhere not? It only shows how legal tender it is. For your own safety, exchange any Scottish money you have for English banknotes to avoid inconvenience when travelling south of the border. And as a final surprising fact, it is also true that Scottish banknotes are not legal tender, even in Scotland.
The Association of Commercial Banknote Issuers states: “The term `legal tender` has very little practical meaning for ordinary and everyday transactions and does not affect the acceptance of approved notes as a means of payment.” Basically, “the acceptance of all means of payment, including banknotes, is essentially a matter of agreement between the parties involved.” First, Scottish banknotes are legal tender. However, legal tender is the only method of payment that a creditor must accept when offered in exchange for a debt. Although Scottish currency can be accepted; It is legal for creditors to reject Scottish banknotes if they are offered for debt.
