Can I spend a Scottish £10 in England?

[mrsb00]

Google giving me mixed responses. Sold something today and the lady paid with English notes and a Scottish £10! I hadn’t realised until she’d left as it looks so similar to an English £10

Yes you can

Yes it's legal tender.
You might get some people claim they can't accept it but they should.

They aren't even legal tender in Scotland.

If you want a challenge, try spending NI notes in England.

Yes. But some shops are uneasy about taking them.

Yes. Shops aren't under an obligation to accept them (they're not legally obliged to accept Bank of England notes either) but you should have no issues in any major chain. You can also pay it in at your bank.

It is legal tender but a lot of places don't like to accept them, particularly the further south you go. If you get stuck with it, a bank will change it for you

Yes you can, not every shop will be polite about it but yes you can

They are not legal tender...

www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender

Technically yes but in reality it depends.

Put it in a self service checkout?

@xyzandabc

It is legal tender but a lot of places don't like to accept them, particularly the further south you go. If you get stuck with it, a bank will change it for you

They're not 'legal tender'. Bank of England notes aren't 'legal tender' either.

Even if they were legal tender, shops wouldn't be obliged to accept them as payment for goods - legal tender applies only to what must be accepted in repayment of a debt. You don't have a debt with a shop - you effectively enter into a bargaining process when you offer payment for their goods.

Yes you can but some people might be a bit funny about it. I've had years of this problems when scottish fil sent cash in dcs birthday cards!

You shouldn't have a problem in any chain store. I used to go to to Scotland from time to time for work purposes and come back with a purse full of Scottish notes - spent them in the supermarket with no problem at all.

If I end up with one I always wait until I'm using a self-scan somewhere because, unlike human cashiers, the machines always accept them with no quibbles.

In theory yes, but you may find obstacles to doing so.

Yes but some shops will make a song and a dance about it. Wave it about in the air and normally call a supervisor. We have had some absolutely ridiculous reactions over the years.

I use them in the self scans with no issue.

Legal tender isn't something that applies to shopping.

But yes, it is legal currency in England and most places will be okay with accepting it. It used to be VERY difficult to spend Scottish notes in England, but things have improved a lot in the last thirty years.

‘Legal tender’ is irrelevant in shops - it is for the payment of debt

Scottish notes are accepted by some and not accepted by others, but they are valid currency with identical value to English notes.
They are common around the borders and fairly common in tourist areas.
If you are unable to spend a Scottish note you can still bank it

In theory, yes you can. It’s a tenner, in exactly the same way that a Bank of England £10 note.

In practice, many shop workers will be reluctant to accept it because they won’t recognise it, their bosses have told them to look out for forgeries and they don’t want to get in trouble.

I’m Scottish & my mum lives in Norwich, so visited loads with my Scottish money and only had one issue in Tesco’s the lady told me it wasn’t real money and was looking up a big folder until she asked another lady who told her she was being ridiculous and took over. Fair enough if you’ve not seen the notes before and want to check as you don’t want to accept something that might not be real notes. We always get Bank of England money for kids on birthdays etc shops accept no probs.

Thanks all

As a Scot who, pre COVID travelled to England ever other week, I’ve very rarely had an issue spending Scottish bank notes.

Self scan checkouts in supermarkets usually accept them too and if you do encounter an issue, then your bank should swap it.

As long as the note says ‘Sterling’ then it is acceptable.

Just don't take them on holiday with you as you will get a worse exchange rate. You should be able to spend it but you do sometimes get people who refuse.

Bank of England notes are most definitely legal tender and all Scottish notes are not, even in Scotland. They are all, However, perfectly acceptable means of exchange. Just like credit or debit cards, neither of which are legal tender.

Just as an aside, did you know that Scotland had £100 notes? Never actually seen one though.