Talk:British banknotes

"the Bank of Scotland (generally accepted throughout the UK);
the Royal Bank of Scotland (generally accepted throughout the UK);
the Clydesdale Bank (generally accepted throughout the UK);"

Actually I'm not certain that Scottish notes are widely accepted south of the border. I certainly haven't seen any in circulation in southern England, although if I was passed one and the stores didn't take it I could always change it at a bank. Lee M 04:14, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

It depends how far from the border you go, generally. Here in Cheshire while they're not common they can certainly be found. Arwel 04:39, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

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It would be nice for us foreigners to have further discussion on the page about what the relationship between all the banks are, and why there are many which can issue currency. Where I'm from (USA), only the lead government bank can issue currency. Anonymous, 22 Mar 2004

Actually, that's not true per se - all of the Federal Reserve Banks print and issue the notes (A-L, IIRC), but there is much more difference between the British issuing banks' notes. I assume the reason is the bloody Celts being difficult oppressed peoples, as ever (;-)). Not my specialised field, however.

James F. (talk) 16:31, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Actually there's a fair bit of the history involved on the individual issuing banks' linked pages, especially about Sir Walter Scott retaining the right of Scottish banks to issue their own notes. Arwel 20:07, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Northern Irish notes

Are we sure that Northern Irish notes are only accepted in Northern Ireland and Scotland? I recently spent one in England no problem. I received a £5 Bank of Ireland note in change from the Upper Crust at Derby train station and spent it a few minutes later in the WH Smith over the other side. When I was at Smith's the manager was training a sales assistant and he was telling her that all English, Scottish and Northern Irish currency is legal tender. Basically, no one battered an eye-lid when I spent the Northern Irish note. It was no more unusual than spending a Scottish one.

I think the point it's trying to make is that NI notes are very rarely seen in England and thus much less likely to be accepted, simply because people are unfamiliar with them. Actually your Smith's manager is wrong about legal tender -- Scottish notes are not legal tender anywhere, not even in Scotland, and English notes (other than the now non-existent £1) are not legal tender in Scotland either; there's a difference between "legal tender" and "commonly accepted" - anything you can get someone else to accept is good money! -- Arwel 17:41, 20 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Page move?

This page covers Northern Irish banknotes, and Northern Ireland is not and never has been in Britain. The article should be at United Kingdom banknotes, as it also covers Guernsey and Jersey, which also aren't in Britain. Kiand 14:40, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

On the other hand, Guernsey and Jersey are British, but are not in the United Kingdom. Man vyi 17:23, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Its impossible to be in Great Britain but not in the UK, as the UK is defined as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland". Either way, they're both small and relatively insignificant compared to Northern Ireland (1,500,000 people), which is definitively not in Great Britain. Kiand 20:57, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

But it is possible to be British but not in the UK (as are the Isle of Man and Channel Islands). The title of the article is British banknotes rather than Banknotes of Great Britain - there is a difference. How about British and UK banknotes? Man vyi 21:46, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Argh! No, please don't revisit the old "what is 'British'?" argument, which I can't recall where it was last fought over else I'd refer you there. Just read "British" as being the adjective referring to the sterling area. -- Arwel 16:54, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

So move them to Sterling Banknotes then. British is completely wrong, argument or not. Kiand 22:44, 2 May 2005 (UTC)

Images

Is there any reason there's picture upon picture of Scottish and Irish notes, but not one of the actual proper British / English / English and Welsh notes, whatever you want to call them.

And Northern Ireland is indeed in Britain. Britain is the British Isles. Northern Ireland is not in Great Britain, which is the big island (where England, Wales and Scotland are). Proto 13:09, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yes, the Bank of England objected to our including images of their notes. -- Arwel 14:09, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)