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Current pound coins will cease to be legal tender.


Lisa O`Brien

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The current round pound coins are going to cease to be legal tender in October, when a new, 12 sided pound coin is going to be introduced. If you haven't used up all your old pounds coins by October they will be worthless. [Drat, and I literally have HUNDREDS of them just lying about the place. Ha,ha,ha].

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Thanks for the reminder, I have a piggy bank (a fluffy sheep actually) full of the things that I keep for emergencies after being mugged and finding myself completely dosh-less.

 

On a more serious note I wonder if the adaptations to coin machines at stations etc. will be factored into price increases.

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Also the paper £5 will stop being legal tender on 5th May (but can be exchanged for new notes at the Bank of England afterwards).

 

More about the changes and dates at:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/team-blog/2017/02/14/youve-piggy-bank-coin-jar-watch-1-coins-will-soon/

 

Also tricky for folks overseas who save money from one trip to the next... 

 

I also thank you! I'll pass this info along to my group which is coming to the UK starting May... 11!

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Thanks so much for highlighting. In living abroad, I may not have heard about these upcoming changes otherwise.

 

It is particularly problematic with the larger banknotes. Very few people overseas have heard that the £50 Houblon note was withdrawn in 2014, and the £20 Elgar note was taken out of circulation in 2010.  So when they arrive in the UK on their next visit, they are told that their money is worthless. There are of course people around who will take it off their hands at high commission rates, as the old notes are fully exchangeable at face value at the Bank of England, and other places accept them at their discretion...

More about bank notes withdrawn from circulation on the Bank of England's site:

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/withdrawn/default.aspx

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I'm sure it will cost a fortune to change all the parking machines etc ....will they be able to keep up?

I had absolutely NO idea we were about to get a new pound coin and I live in the UK!!

No doubt we will hear more about it as the time gets nearer.

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I'm sure it will cost a fortune to change all the parking machines etc ....will they be able to keep up?

I had absolutely NO idea we were about to get a new pound coin and I live in the UK!!

No doubt we will hear more about it as the time gets nearer.

 

This was announced about 3 years ago so they've had plenty of time to sort out the machines.

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we got new plastic money in Canada a few years ago and though everyone hated them at first, after they get a bit worn in they are less slippery (or even worse, sticky so that you end up handing over two twenties when you thought it was one!). We're all pretty used to them now.

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we got new plastic money in Canada a few years ago and though everyone hated them at first, after they get a bit worn in they are less slippery (or even worse, sticky so that you end up handing over two twenties when you thought it was one!). We're all pretty used to them now.

The 'feel' of the £5 notes might also not last for long, following protests against the use of beef tallow in their production (But apparently, the vegetarian equivalent is just as good, though more costly to produce...). See:

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/new-5-pound-note-animal-fat-petition-fiver-not-vegetarian-friendly-tallow-a7445646.html

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The 'feel' of the £5 notes might also not last for long, following protests against the use of beef tallow in their production (But apparently, the vegetarian equivalent is just as good, though more costly to produce...). See:

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/new-5-pound-note-animal-fat-petition-fiver-not-vegetarian-friendly-tallow-a7445646.html

 

The Bank of England have already said (2 days ago, I think) they're not changing the polymer and the new £10 notes will be made of the same polymer.

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Many years ago, when the 50p coin was changed to the ones we use now, one of the halls where I teach still had an oldfashioned electricity meter.  You had to feed it with 50p coins.  However, it wasn't updated for several months.  My local bank provided a wonderful service - still providing old 50p coins although they were no longer legal tender.  They must have had a secret hoard!

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And just think of all those lockers, shopping trolleys and so on which will have to be changed - you know, the ones which accept the current pound coins or anything else of the same shape in order to release them.  And all the charities which will be able to sell lots of new keyrings with pound-coin-shaped tokens which fit the new slots ...

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They will carry on though, won't they? Criminals will always find a way.

Here's a report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from last year:

"

Canada's plastic money is stumping counterfeiters. The RCMP estimate the number of fake bills passed on to retailers in 2015 dropped by 74 per cent compared with the previous year.

That doesn't mean people have given up trying to copy Canada's banknotes — it's just that even their best attempts to make fake cash are falling well short."

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Sounds as though we need to take our pound coins and £5 notes to our local currency exchange and turn them in for dollars, since we aren't planning a trip to the UK this year.

 

Thanks for the heads up! I'd read something about some currency and coins going out of circulation but I didn't know the dates.

Edited by Melody
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