Polymer GBP

Have been reading on CC the last couple of days about "polymer" notes vs. paper money for GBP. I plan on ordering a few pounds/euros before departure and am totally confused about this. Should I ask my bank to order polymer? :rolleyes:

Thanks for any info.

The £5 &£10 notes are all polymer now, any paper versions are no longer legal tender. The £20 notes are still paper not due to be replaced until next year or maybe 2020 .The £50 notes are paper but increasingly hard to spend as many shops look on with suspicion as to many forgeries, and cafes , pubs and a lot of places will not except, especially for a small amount.

The £5 &£10 notes are all polymer now, any paper versions are no longer legal tender. The £20 notes are still paper not due to be replaced until next year or maybe 2020 .The £50 notes are paper but increasingly hard to spend as many shops look on with suspicion as to many forgeries, and cafes , pubs and a lot of places will not except, especially for a small amount.

Well I just looked at my money from 2 years ago and the tens and fives are all paper except for one 5 ...Can I go to an exchange thingy in the airport and exchange them there ??? or will the bank exchange them if I can do it here before I go ....Thanks for the info !!!!

Well I just looked at my money from 2 years ago and the tens and fives are all paper except for one 5 ...Can I go to an exchange thingy in the airport and exchange them there ??? or will the bank exchange them if I can do it here before I go ....Thanks for the info !!!!

Shops, pubs, etc no longer accept them.

I doubt you'll get any joy from a currency exchange desk at the airport, or any other exchange bureau.

Banks in the UK will exchange them, and at full face value - or at least they will for their own customers.

But I'm not sure whether they will for others. Only one way to find out.;)

JB :)

There was a previous thread with a variety of different experiences of changing old notes, which showed inconsistencies. The only *guaranteed* way is to go the Bank of England in the City of London, but you may get lucky with a bureau or a bank.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2623586

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What a pain for Tourists who have left over bills

In Canada when they changed the paper money to polymer or coins they would still take the old bills & just take them out of circulation as they made it back to the banks

I only have a couple of 5 GBP notes but it is annoying to be out the money

Just venting

You’re not “out the money”. All Bank of England notes can be exchanged at face value - just not at banks or bureau(probably [emoji846]).

There’s usually an 8 month period when both versions are accepted in circulation, and a period after that when they can be exchanged at banks, but having different versions of the same note in circulation is a pain for cash handling businesses.

I believe the Canadian Government has recently proposed powers to take old notes out of legal tender - ostensibly only for denominations no longer produced, but I bet your two old fivers they eventually adopt the same policy as the Bank of England...

You’re not “out the money”. All Bank of England notes can be exchanged at face value - just not at banks or bureau(probably [emoji846]).

 

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Where can you exchange them other than the Bank of England in London??

Where can you exchange them other than the Bank of England in London??

Find someone who is willing to exchange them for you, who will later exchange it at the bank of England? :D

The £5 &£10 notes are all polymer now, any paper versions are no longer legal tender. The £20 notes are still paper not due to be replaced until next year or maybe 2020 .The £50 notes are paper but increasingly hard to spend as many shops look on with suspicion as to many forgeries, and cafes , pubs and a lot of places will not except, especially for a small amount.

So, when ordering I should request mostly 20 GPB notes or a combo of 10 - 20? I will have a fat wallet:rolleyes:. Will taxis/car services accept the 50 GPB notes? Museums, river cruises?

So, when ordering I should request mostly 20 GPB notes or a combo of 10 - 20? I will have a fat wallet:rolleyes:. Will taxis/car services accept the 50 GPB notes? Museums, river cruises?

A few £10's and £5's come in handy for small purchases or cash tips, but make the bulk of it £20's.

A fat wallet ain't a good idea.

Split your little goldmine with your partners and in at least a couple of places on your person.

And when possible keep most of it in your hotel or cabin safe.

Or indeed use ATMs to draw money as you go.

If you're spending close to or more than £50 with a vendor it should be no problem tendering £50 notes. Especially if this is with folk who know something about you like a pre-booked car service.

At the other end of the scale, tendering a £50 note for a shop purchase of just a pound or two sets the vendor's alarm-bells ringing that there's a big likelihood that it's counterfeit.

If I were a shop-keeper and had serious doubts, would I want to lose a £1 sale or risk losing £50?

"Sorry, I don't have enough change in the till - try the shop down the road".

JB :)

I have seen signs in shops saying that they don't accept 50's.

Museums, river cruises and many taxis will readily accept credit/debit cards, so you only really need a few 20's/10's for small purchases like coffee and beer. Even coffee shops take cards these days, as do McD and KFC etc.

So, when ordering I should request mostly 20 GPB notes or a combo of 10 - 20? I will have a fat wallet:rolleyes:. Will taxis/car services accept the 50 GPB notes? Museums, river cruises?

I recently got some GBP here in the U.S. for an upcoming trip. I specified that the 5 and 10 GBP notes had to be the new polymer notes, and that’s what I got. (Look them up on Google so you’ll recognize them. The feel is totally different too.)

We are heading to our bank today to see if they will exchange them ....probably not lol ...but have printed off a paper to fill out and send in to the bank of London with the old bills and they will write us a check for the amount ...it is only 55 pounds so not a huge loss ...We leave for London on the 15 of September and we always use credit and debit cards overseas anyways ..We still have 85 in polymer to get us started ..Thanks for all the help

We are heading to our bank today to see if they will exchange them ....probably not lol ...

Let us know if it works & what bank

I might try the TD bank here & see what happens :)

We are heading to our bank today to see if they will exchange them ....probably not lol ...but have printed off a paper to fill out and send in to the bank of London with the old bills and they will write us a check for the amount ...it is only 55 pounds so not a huge loss ...We leave for London on the 15 of September and we always use credit and debit cards overseas anyways ..We still have 85 in polymer to get us started ..Thanks for all the help

If you are in London anyway, why not just pop into the Bank of England and exchange them? There's a cool little museum there too :cool:

If you are in London anyway, why not just pop into the Bank of England and exchange them? There's a cool little museum there too :cool:

We are taking the bus down to Southampton the same day ...And the Bank Of Nova Scotia took them and exchanged them for Canadian ...would not give us new pound notes ....but at least we got something for them ...

Let us know if it works & what bank

 

I might try the TD bank here & see what happens :)

Scotia Bank did ... We had 55 in pounds and they gave us 80 Canadian ....glad I read this post before I left ...

We are taking the bus down to Southampton the same day ...And the Bank Of Nova Scotia took them and exchanged them for Canadian ...would not give us new pound notes ....but at least we got something for them ...

Fair enough, glad it worked out for you. Have a great cruise next month :cool:

Scotia Bank did ... We had 55 in pounds and they gave us 80 Canadian ....glad I read this post before I left ...

Thanks will give them a try

glad it worked out

I was in Southampton in May and tried to use the old paper notes from a previous trip to England. The store wouldn't take them, but said go to a bank. I went to the nearest bank and the exchanged them no problem.

Scotia Bank did ... We had 55 in pounds and they gave us 80 Canadian ....glad I read this post before I left ...

Not a great rate, but probably worth your while.

I was in Southampton in May and tried to use the old paper notes from a previous trip to England. The store wouldn't take them, but said go to a bank. I went to the nearest bank and the exchanged them no problem.

Thanks for the information! We'll be in Southampton next month, and we have 7 of the 10GBP left from last year's cruise.

I called the currency exchange booth at CLE, and they would only exchange them for $US.

Thanks for the information! We'll be in Southampton next month, and we have 7 of the 10GBP left from last year's cruise.

I called the currency exchange booth at CLE, and they would only exchange them for $US.

I might assume that that has more to do with the ability to pass you a rotten exchange rate than anything else. If you didn't get 70 new GBP you would notice that.

To be fair the exchanger then has a handling problem - they can’t pass on those old notes to another customer or through normal wholesale channels. Unrealistic to expect them to swallow that cost?

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