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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think they should have accepted my old £1 coin?

78 replies

PoppyPopcorn · 11/10/2017 19:43

Just tried to pay for some stuff in the Co-Op with a mix of old and new £1 coins. Cashier refused the old ones saying "we don't take those any more".

Now I know there was fuss earlier in the week about some stores continuing to accept them after the cut off, but I thought the cut off was the weekend?

OP posts:

JonSnowsWife · 11/10/2017 20:01

It's the shop's prerogative to what coins/notes they accept.

It most definitely is not.

Legal tender means just that.

DarthMaiden · 11/10/2017 20:02

My local coop is still accepting them today.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 11/10/2017 20:04

YANBU. They're perfectly legal tender until 15 Oct.
Watch me find a bag of about £50 old pound coins at midnight on 15 Oct

Original poster

PoppyPopcorn · 11/10/2017 20:04

I know there are rules that shops don't have to take bags and bags of pennies or 2ps, but that's a bit different.

OP posts:

caoraich · 11/10/2017 20:06

Yes I think they should have taken them. Thanks for the heads-up, though. I have a jar of old £1s that I was planning to foist on co-op tomorrow, I'll go elsewhere!

On the plus side, today I also got one of the new £10s today. It had otters on it and was delightful

HipToBeSquare · 11/10/2017 20:08

I was given an old one yesterday for change but I was conveniently back in the same today spending my old pound coin

buntingqueen · 11/10/2017 20:10

Our co-op still only accepts old £1 coins in their trolleys, so maybe a bit hypocritical not to accept them.

deepestdarkestperu · 11/10/2017 20:12

Legal tender means just that.

No shop has to take your money if they don't want to! Just because something is legal tender, doesn't mean they have to accept it.

From edu.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender/

In addition, shops are not obliged to accept legal tender. If you hand over a £50 note to pay for a banana in your local grocery store, the staff are within their rights to choose not to accept it. Likewise for all other banknotes – it’s a matter of discretion.

sharklovers · 11/10/2017 20:13

*It most definitely is not.

Legal tender means just that.*

Wrong! They don’t have to accept any form of payment they don’t want to.

EllieMentry · 11/10/2017 20:14

Our local Co-op gave me four old £1 coins in my change this morning.

JonSnowsWife · 11/10/2017 20:19

Our local Co-op gave me four old £1 coins in my change this morning.

Odd isn't it @Ellie? Rather hypocritical I'd say.

SeamusMacDubh · 11/10/2017 20:27

I was a bit put out that I got given an old pound today, I suppose banks will still take them after the 15th?

ForalltheSaints · 11/10/2017 20:30

I have not been given one for a few days. There ought to be a period of time where you are obliged to accept them, but not give out in change, at least for larger retailers.

As for the going to banks, given that many people have lost a local branch or hours are inconvenient, it is not an easy option.

SeamusMacDubh · 11/10/2017 20:36

I'll have to travel 9 miles to a bank

purplecorkheart · 11/10/2017 20:44

I am not sure if it is the same in the UK as in Ireland, but here (to the best of my knowlege) shops do not have to accept legal tender as no debt exist as the goods have not transferred to your ownership by selecting them and if they do not want to accept your money they still own the goods. However in a restaurant where you have eaten the food they have to accept legal tender as a debt exists.

PriorityZero · 11/10/2017 20:45

My husband works in retail not for the co-op but for a similar large organisation and he's just explained that some are not accepting the old £1s now because if they only bank say once a fortnight (like his workplace) then they will be banking them after the deadline and having lots of old useless coins lying around could mean they have no float/not enough in the till, that's why they'll still be handing them out but not accepting them.

He says you have to pay for those securit guys to come out in the big vans to take the money away and organisations like Co-op will only be able to afford it twice a month in their smaller stores/less popular stores as it's quite expensive to have them come and take the money.

He says the big 4 supermarkets should still accept them until close of business on 15th but you'll find the smaller shops probably no longer accept them.

deepestdarkestperu · 11/10/2017 20:51

Similar here @PriorityZero.

I work in retail - a smallish national clothes chain, but our local bank has just closed and the nearest is now 7+ miles away. We have mobile banking, but it's only 1 hour a week in our area, so if we miss it, that's it for the week and we have to wait until the following week.

Most small shops will not be banking on a daily basis. It's expensive and not practical in most cases!

ijustwannadance · 11/10/2017 20:57

When banking takings, the old and new £1 coins can't be mixed. So each bag of £20 must be one or the other and larger bags with 25 x £20 bags in must also be the same.
As there is less old ones about it makes sense for businesses to move deadline forward so they aren't stuck with them.

I always thought banks accepted them later than deadline though.

RunningOutOfCharge · 11/10/2017 20:59

Lol at people on this thread thinking shops have to take them

No. No they don’t

Lots of the old £1 coins were fakes anyway ( hence the change of design)

Apple23 · 11/10/2017 21:01

Post office counter lady has told my mum that, unlike other coin withdrawals, the banks won't be accepting old £1 coins after 15th due to the high percentage of forgeries in circulation.

I popped into Tesco's near work today to buy lunch/ spend the last old coins in my purse. The cashier commented that I paid in old coins, saying that they are separating the old coins in the till and only giving new ones in change.

BlueCows · 11/10/2017 21:05

Yes, I've heard the banks aren't accepting them after the 15th. It's all a bit like a game of Chase The Ace.

RunningOutOfCharge · 11/10/2017 21:38

Put them in vending machines!

BitOfANameChange · 11/10/2017 21:42

Car parks in my town have already been altered and don't accept the old £1

thecatsarecrazy · 11/10/2017 21:43

We are taking them until the end of the month but obviously will only be giving new ones

Original poster

PoppyPopcorn · 11/10/2017 21:55

Post office counter lady has told my mum that, unlike other coin withdrawals, the banks won't be accepting old £1 coins after 15th due to the high percentage of forgeries in circulation.

Post Office counter lady is wrong.

www.rbs.com/rbs/news/2017/03/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-p1-coin.html

"Although the old £1 coin won’t be accepted as payment for goods or services after 15 October, it can still be paid in to banks and will continue to hold its value. In fact, last year the value of demoneterised coins (shillings and halfpennies for example) that were paid into the bank was in the region of £2m."

OP posts:

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