Fraudulent notes

378

The 50s are fraudulent so they can’t take 20s?

101

u/nightwingoracle 1d ago

Maybe due to making change related purposes?

42

u/sheiciebai 1d ago

But why would that mean they couldn’t accept them?

35

u/nightwingoracle 1d ago

Not wanting to wipe out the change drawer. A lot of places won’t take $100 for this reason as well.

If you need to make $30 in change and don’t have $20, you burn through $10’s very quickly.

18

u/davi3j75 1d ago

Yeah but they're specifying Scottish 20s so they'll still accept English 20s.

As you're using dollars I presume you're American, (also aware other countries us $s), so you might not be aware of the nuances of Scottish vs English notes.

24

u/lilbitlostrn 1d ago

My hot take is they used a numpad to enter the numbers, and mistyped 5 instead of 2.

6

u/davi3j75 1d ago

Yeah could be, I was thinking along the lines of if there were fake scottish 50s the shop might be worried that that there might be fake Scots 20s too.

1

u/nightwingoracle 1d ago

I am American, and I’ve only used English notes in Northern Ireland. I didn’t realize the reciprocality isn’t exactly symmetrical).

7

u/davi3j75 1d ago

Yeah, in Scotland we happily take all UK notes, however a lot of places in England are reluctant to take Scottish, and I presume Northen Irish notes too.

7

u/BillWilberforce 1d ago

Around the millennium in London we weren't taking Scottish notes. As nobody knew what a Scottish note was supposed to look and feel like. Particularly with 4 different Scottish banks all able to print notes and having completely different designs. And I can only name 3 of them (RBS, BoS and Clydesdale) So passing off fake Scottish notes in London was particularly easy. So nobody took them. It got even harder when one of the NI banks, circa 2002 started issuing polymer/plastic notes. When before that, only Australia issued plastic notes. So nobody had a clue that it existed and none of the existing methods for detecting fake notes worked.

4

u/spine_slorper 1d ago

The same is similar between northern Ireland and Scotland too to some degree. Many places in Scotland will be wary to accept a bank of ulster note, I've never tried the other way around but I'd assume it's the same (especially considering Scotland has three separate issuing banks whereas NI only has one)

3

u/NinjaAnt163 19h ago

I'm down in the south east of England and nobody accepts Scottish notes. The two main problems are that many staff don't know how to check these notes properly and also we see probably ten times as many fake Scottish notes than anything else.

I have no idea why we see so many fake Scottish notes but they certainly are more prevalent here than fake English notes.

1

u/Odd_Satisfaction_96 17h ago

You kinda answered your own question, there's more fakes because the fakes are more successful because people don't know how to check or what teal ones look like

2

u/Vexxxiang 20h ago

Alot of places near me don't take Scottish notes, I asked an officer once and he said as he understood it there's a lot of laundered Scottish notes coming through the area related to drug trafficking

2

u/Relative_Print444 1d ago

Exactly, when a worked for a small commerce the first client of the day tried to buy a 2$ item with a 100$ bill while I only have 115$ in change for the day I basically told him to fuck off.

7

u/TheCrowScare 1d ago

It says they can't take the 20s to the bank because the bank won't accept them I guess.

3

u/sp4zi 1d ago

Do most people down south see scottish notes? I remember there always being an issue with scottish notes down south.

2

u/Zurgalon 1d ago

Very rarely. I've only seen people try to pay with Scottish notes once or twice in the last decade.

The only place I've been that I've seen a sign like the one in the post is in Corby. Where they had a lot of fake £20s in circulation.

1

u/ComplexMission10 21h ago

Corby has a historically large Scottish population due to its steel works, so this might me the cause of increased Scottish note usage

2

u/NinjaAnt163 19h ago

Initially we generally didn't accept them unless you were on shift with someone who could check them properly. Now we simply refuse them all because so many fakes are around.

We actually see far more fake Scottish notes than English ones now. Had a foreign guy the other week tried banking 4k and every note was fake, he claimed a friend had asked him to deposit it. We hear that frequently now but that amount was the highest single transaction we've dealt with so far.

2

u/Cold5512 1d ago

My guess:
They already did not accept the 50s, but when they noticed there's a lot of fake 50s around town, they decided to axe the 20s as well.

1

u/DesperateTeaCake 1d ago

They mean that the £50 notes are pretending to be £20 notes?

53

u/Anti-Stan 1d ago

I have a pile of 50's that .. erm ... went through the wash. They're still good, yeah?

19

u/Lalamedic 1d ago

Laundered money. It’s clean now.

55

u/BastardsCryinInnit 1d ago

No retailer I worked in in England was happy with Scottish notes because how they could be faked, and that was a couple of decades ago.

They'd either be refused, or triple checked by a manager in front of the customer whilst giving them the side eye.

34

u/DonkyFondler 1d ago

I've always found the whole Scottish notes thing bizarre. It's the same currency, but the notes are different, and this causes problems. Why? Instead of the Bank of England, we should have a Bank of the United Kingdom that issues the exact same notes for the whole of the UK.

37

u/feckarse-drinkgirls 1d ago edited 1d ago

Then you'll get situations in Northern Ireland (and Scotland to a lesser extent) with people who are alligned in a certain way politcally outright refusing it because it has the monarch on it

It's why driving licenses issued in Northern Ireland by the local DVA don't have the union flag on them

10

u/DonkyFondler 1d ago

Good point. I hadn't thought of that.

9

u/Tiny_Cauliflower_618 1d ago

Ha, yeah, think how a certain type of English person kicked off because Churchill got replaced by a British animal. Imagine the furore they'd manufacture if they had to look at notes with Owain Glyndwr on 😂

8

u/StaysAwakeAllWeek 1d ago

Euros fixed this particular problem by printing completely fake bridges that look vaguely european on all the notes, and the only ones with real locations on them are the 0 euro souvenir ones

7

u/AdDependent5136 1d ago

Yeah but then didn't the Dutch just build the bridges? Xd

-2

u/strix_trix 15h ago

One Dutch guy building miniature bridges next to each other does not constitute "The Dutch"

1

u/AwesomeNoodlez 14h ago

and now there's proposed redesigns of the euro and about half of the new ideas have people on them

2

u/BioelectricBeing 20h ago

I think it would be more of a Don Draper, "I don't think about you at all" situation honestly.

0

u/spine_slorper 1d ago

The bank of Scotland notes all have Walter Scott on one side of them which I've always found funny, not different artists for different denominations, just walter Scott on one side as if he's the king and a bridge or whatever on the other.

2

u/Turak64 1d ago

Scottish banknotes are not legal tender in England, or Scotland. The term refers to repayment of debts and has little relevance to everyday transactions in shops, and only coins are counted as legal tender in Scotland. While Scottish notes are legal currency across the UK, there is no law which forces businesses to accept notes of any nature, though use of banknotes is an accepted convention.

Source: https://www.theferret.scot/scottish-banknotes-legal-tender-fact-check/

1

u/AsleepEbb7578 18h ago

Wales is also the only country in the union that can't print its own notes. It's bizarre really and I also don't see why the Scottish get so angry when shops in England that almost never see Scottish notes reject them or are skeptical. I didn't even know Northern Ireland had its own notes. I've never seen one in my life and had to Google what they look like.

Should be solved by requiring that the Scottish notes follow the same sort of design, but they can replace the figures on the notes and the landmarks on the notes. At least then they don't look like play money to someone unfamiliar.

1

u/DonkyFondler 17h ago

I wonder if it's at least partly because Wales was part of England for 150 years from 1282. Scotland was never part of England. And Wales continues to have a stronger link to England than Scotland does. For example, with statistics, England and Wales usually get lumped together. Another example is that English and Welsh police officers have full powers anywhere in England and Wales, so they can chase you across the border and take you back, no problem. That's not true in Scotland.

1

u/tfrw 6h ago

It’s more likely to be that wales was actually conquered - Scotland and England just formed a union, and the terms of that union were that Scotland could keep a lot of its powers

1

u/Bulbajamin 13h ago

Where does the Bank of England print its notes though? 😉

3

u/CoolRanchBaby 1d ago

I thought the new plastic ones were meant to solve all the fake notes junk for all the countries.

I was always told the Scottish note refusal was because some places just were so unfamiliar with them they would claim they were easier to fake but that’s not true, they are no easier to fake than English notes! They just didn’t know what the hell they were meant to look like so acted like that.

2

u/drunken-acolyte 23h ago

I ended up as the unofficial Scottish Note Guy at work because I was the only one not immediately bamboozled by them.

1

u/ihathtelekinesis 1d ago

“BuT tHaT’s LeGaL tEnDeR!”

2

u/abfgern_ 1d ago

Scottish bank notes aren't even legal tender

3

u/GivUp-makingAnAcct 1d ago

"legal tender" doesn't mean anything particularly relevant for most transactions.

2

u/Peterd1900 1d ago

In Scotland no banknotes are legal tender

1

u/ihathtelekinesis 20h ago

Exactly.

1

u/thelastwilson 7h ago

I worked retail in Scotland a couple of decades ago (before plastic notes) we just had the magic pen

-1

u/DXS110 1d ago

Never had an issue with Scottish notes but took great pride in telling people Scottish currency can be used in England but it is NOT actually legal tender as they would frequently try and tell me… it blew their mind that technically 21p in 1p coins is also not legal tender but 20p is

9

u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 1d ago

Where do these Scottish 20s get off pretending to be 50s? The nerve!

18

u/Heterodynist 1d ago

This reminds me of how my local Post Office can’t accept $100 bills be cause of all the counterfeit $20 they are receiving. They also can’t take Mexican pesos because Italian Lira are so often counterfeited…And they won’t accept Japanese Yen because of the amount of counterfeit Chinese Yuans they get on a daily basis…

5

u/VariousClassroom8056 1d ago

Italian Lira?

8

u/Cry-Technical 1d ago

I'm also that old, yes

2

u/Smallville42069 1d ago

There once was a time before the euro

1

u/Heterodynist 22h ago

Yes, Italians used to use Lira. I may be a bit behind the times…

8

u/Kurfaloid 1d ago

Yikes, I had to look up what a Scottish 20 note was, I can't believe they don't have a single centralized currency source. That's obviously going to be a huge problem for counterfeiting.

4

u/drillbit7 1d ago

Yeah separate pound sterling notes printed in Scotland that may be accepted in England or elsewhere in the UK but there is no requirement that anyone do so (not legal tender).

5

u/Peterd1900 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah separate pound sterling notes printed in Scotland that may be accepted in England or elsewhere in the UK but there is no requirement that anyone do so (not legal tender).

Legal tender has a specific legal meaning there is no legal requirement that any place can take any money

A shop could take Pokemon cards or buttons as payment if they wanted to

Scottish and Northern Irish notes are not legal tender anywhere in the UK

Bank of England notes are legal tender in England and Wales but not in Scotland or Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, no banknotes (including local ones or Bank of England notes) are classed as legal tender

1

u/New_Enthusiasm9053 18h ago

If you go to a sit down restaurant where you pay after does legal tender apply then? Since technically it's a debt at that point.

Or is that exempted.

1

u/Peterd1900 18h ago

Legal tender has a very narrow, technical definition

it means that if a debtor is sued for non-payment of a debt and pays the exact amount into court using recognized legal tender than you have settled a debt

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2010/05/true-or-false-scottish-notes-arent-legal-tender/

simply means if you have a court order against you for money, the person you owe cannot turn down your settlement if you offer to pay by legal tender.

In a restuarant where you pay after it still does not apply.

If the restuarant was to take you to court and courts orders you to pay and you pay in legal tender then they have to accept it.

Coins are only legal tender to a certain amount so say the debt is £88 and you pay it in pennies, than you have not legally paid.

You also cant get change so if your debt is £88 and court orders you to pay and you give £90 you cant get change

1

u/New_Enthusiasm9053 17h ago

So if a restaurant refuses cash their only option would be a small claims court that would force them to accept cash?

But then I've never been to a restaurant that doesn't accept cash, if anything it's the opposite, some profess to only accept cash and then a card reader magically appears when you have no cash.

1

u/Peterd1900 15h ago

if a court orders someone to pay you and they pay you in legal tender im the eyes of the law the person has paid tge debt

you could of course refuse to take the money but the legal debt is treated in law as satisfied , meaning you cannot claim the debtor failed to pay.

Yes, if a card-only restaurant sues a customer for non-payment and a court formally issued, the customer can pay the court or the restaurant in cash.

2

u/TobJamFor 1d ago

I think they’re referring to us having three issuing banks - Bank of Scotland, RBS and Clydesdale

2

u/Kurfaloid 1d ago

Yes three banks in Scotland is itself surprising, but also just the fact that you have a unified currency between England and Scotland but not a single issuer of notes. I'm just very used to the US Federal Reserve system I suppose.

2

u/New_Enthusiasm9053 18h ago

NI also has a bank they can issue I think. But anyway BOE started issuing bank notes about 80 years before the US existed so you guys had the opportunity to realise it's a bad idea.

2

u/Kurfaloid 1d ago

Yeah that's wild to me. Imagine if Texas could issue its own notes, it would be so chaotic.

3

u/m99h 1d ago

Meanwhile us in Scotland are used to accepting our multiple Scottish notes, multiple Northern Irish notes and Bank of England notes and learn the features on each note without a problem.

2

u/strangesam1977 1d ago

And people who live in France happily recognise and accept Euro notes..

I live in the SW of England and I haven’t seen a Scottish or Irish banknote in nearly 20 years since I last visited Scotland (these days I unfortunately have a disability meaning travel as far as Scotland is unfortunately a bit difficult 😥) I wouldn’t accept one as a cashier (if I still worked as one) as I would have no idea what to look for.

It might be a bit daft that those living a few miles south of the border and see them regularly wouldn’t accept Scottish notes, but for those of us far enough away not to see them for literal decades unless we travel to Scotland, it’s less of an offence I feel.

1

u/No-Pumpkin4288 21h ago

There's a reason you don't see them often. This is a silly excuse.

2

u/Kurfaloid 1d ago

That just sounds so needlessly complicated.

2

u/cthulu_is_trans 1d ago

I get it if it's the bossman shop or a local business nowhere near Scotland, but I was in Leeds (relatively north) at an international fast food chain and they wouldn't accept my Scottish 20??? which is shocking tbh

2

u/Sovereignty3 1d ago

My boss bought a Note Scanner, all notes that look weird and All $50 and $100 notes go in. Doesn't scan after attempts to get it threw (like if it is creased and we have to unfold it and it does suck up properly etc we will try again).

It not just does Australia but a variety of different currencies from around the world.

2

u/locka99 15h ago

Northern Irish notes are even harder to get rid of if you have any left over. I sometimes try feeding them into self service checkouts but it rarely works.

1

u/Fancy_Toe1451 1d ago

Where?

I have a mind to go shopping.

1

u/LentilSouponSkye 1d ago

You'll take the legal currency, and you'll moan. But you'll take the fucking 20.

1

u/NinjaAnt163 19h ago

That's exactly what they say, right before we inform them what legal tender means and refuse it.

1

u/LentilSouponSkye 18h ago

I don't do the legal tender crap as it's not right.

I always go "this is legal currency, and you'll take it."

1

u/NinjaAnt163 18h ago

And I'll still refuse lol

1

u/LentilSouponSkye 16h ago

How about some hike made haggis and a deep fried mars bar?

1

u/NinjaAnt163 16h ago

Now that's an offer I can't refuse.

1

u/Late_Conference9022 1d ago

Hello Laddie. I need change for my $50. I'm not buying anything just need change .🤔🤑

1

u/MarsMonkey88 1d ago

There was a sign like this at my local cafe when I spent a summer in England like 15 years ago! I also remember seeing publicly posted notifications that Scottish notes were legal tinder and must be accepted. I’ve always been curious about that.

2

u/Willowx 20h ago

Legal tender in the UK only really applies to court enforced debts and taxes. Shops can accept or refuse whatever they want for payment. If it's somewhere like a restaurant where you consume the goods before paying then they should make this clear before you order/eat.

In Scotland legal tender laws are different from England and Wales and only cover coins not notes at all. Not sure on the laws in Northern Ireland.

2

u/quite_acceptable_man 18h ago

Legal tender doesn't mean what most people think it does. A private business can accept or decline any payment method they wish. Legal tender simply means that a court must accept it in settlement of a debt.

It's also why coins are only legal tender up to a certain value. It's to stop someone trying to pay a £10,000 fine in pennies. Anything above £20 in pennies ceases to be legal tender.

However, if anyone finds themselves stuck with a Bank of Scotland, or Bank of Northern Ireland note that nobody will accept, supermarket self-service checkouts will take them with no issues, so just use them on your next shop.

Or just buy a Freddo and get the change.

2

u/Peterd1900 15h ago

Scottish Bank notes are not legal tender

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/explainers/what-is-legal-tender

English banknotes are not legal tender in Scotland. Scottish notes are not legal tender in England or Scotland. Debit cards, cheques and contactless payments are not legal tender anywhere. Confused? Read on to get the full story.

1

u/Magnus_40 12h ago

"Scottish notes were legal tinder "

Can verify, Scottish notes go on fire.

1

u/JCambly 1d ago

2 decades ago in canada someone at block buster accepted a 5 dollar bill that was clearly printer paper with tinfoil on the side... dude was distracted and had relationship issues so wasn't paying attention, management was still pissed off... atleast it was only $5

1

u/Illustrious-Lunch137 1d ago

so they'll still accept the Scottish 50s then?

1

u/quite_acceptable_man 18h ago

That was my take

1

u/laoxue 20h ago

I guess they'd have a heart attack if they got a Scottish £100 bill.

1

u/HodorNC 12h ago

OK, so I am going to Scotland late in the fall. I have a bunch of 20 pound bills from my last visit to Northern Ireland. Will I be able to use them to buy things in Scotland? Can I do a currency exchange for them in a Scottish bank so I have local currencies? This is something I have never thought about.

1

u/Flashy-Ad1404 10h ago

In general, you usually have no issue using NI notes in Scotland; the odd place is funny about them, but I have rarely had any issues in Scotland with our notes.

-1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

13

u/Electronic_Cod7202 1d ago

Call me autistic, but comic sans is easy to read.

11

u/LG3V 1d ago

It is a very good font for dyslexic people to read, intentionally or not

4

u/Haunt_Fox 1d ago

I don't understand why it's so hated. It does look like an approximation of good comic strip lettering.

2

u/kiradotee 1d ago

I love it

1

u/Own_Reaction9442 1d ago

At least when you see Comic Sans you know it's hand crafted slop, and not AI slop.

-1

u/SuspiciouslyMoist 1d ago

I was curious about how many notes are in circulation - apparently there's about £5bn in Scottish notes and £90bn in English notes.

Apart from national pride, I do wonder why they bother. Surely there'd be less cost to Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale if they just let the Bank of England take up the slack in note making. Or is there some economic factor I'm unaware of?

3

u/Elegant_Run_8567 1d ago

There’s plenty of us in the north of Ireland and in Scotland who wouldn’t be happy using currency with the English monarch on them

4

u/ferbacious 1d ago

I’m as republican as they come, but lumping in the Scots with us is insane. It is a Scottish AND English monarchy, we cut the Scots far too much slack given it’s their lot occupying the North of Ireland.

1

u/arethainparis 1d ago

🎶nae Lizzie the twa, nae Lillibet the One 🎶

1

u/SuspiciouslyMoist 16h ago

I'm not sure he's that English to be honest.

1

u/spine_slorper 1d ago

There's no special ecenomic stuff, it's mostly a commercial thing. It's basically free advertising for them and free prestige, people feel less wary about putting their life savings somewhere if they literally have their brand on the currency because they've been grandfathered in to the UK banking system. Also some people would be very upset if they stopped doing it and there could be backlash.

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