[Snowball]

Police are warning us to look out for fake new fivers - they have been spotted in Wadebridge, Cornwall, and were spotted in Poole in February. didn't take the forgers long. did it?
A new polymer £10 note is due out in September. Will this be as easy to copy as the £5 note? If it is lucrative enough to copy the £5 note, then it will certainly be profitable to copy the £10 one.

My apologies - I thought I had switched to the General Discussion before posting this item.

[Santa]

From all accounts they are pretty crude copies.

The Bank said on Friday it was unaware of any forgeries of the new polymer £5 note, although its design had been crudely copied onto paper in a very small number of cases.

PCSO Sarah Dutton said on Thursday: "Please be aware of counterfeit new five pound notes circulating in the area. Report any suspicious activity via 101 or 999 if it is an emergency."

Dorset Police was attempting to clarify the officer's comments on Friday. It is understood that she had not seen examples of the counterfeit notes.


Read more at http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/fake-n...gBjz4g9cQhy.99

Probably someone made some photocopies.

[Snowball]

Many years ago, when we had the old £1 note, I had some "stage money" which was for acting purposes. These notes were very authentic copies, EXCEPT that they were only printed along the top for about one inch down each side. When you put a genuine pound note on either side of a bundle, or particularly in a wallet, it looked like an impressive amount of cash. If you looked carefully though, the serial number was the same for all of them. And they did not have the metal strip running though them.

[23dft]

Forgers normally concentrate on lower denominations - how thoroughly do you check a £5 note compared to a £50 (or £100)?

[Santa]

Current thinking is to remove high value notes (£50 and above) from circulation. It's years since I even saw one. The idea is that only drug dealers and smugglers want high value notes to pay for their illegal enterprises. The rest of us are happy with electronic transfers.

This only leaves fives, tens and twenties for a forger, and according to the reports, the current "forgeries" are no such thing - merely copies. Incidentally, it is illegal to make a copy of a BOE note.

[23dft]

I suppose it may reduce slightly cash-in-hand deals. I often use £50s when going to the cash and carry for a club I am involved in, but the bank account is due to be changed to have a debit card facility soon.

[Motman]

Have you seen the €500 notes? Not many places take them!

[smudger]

Are they allowed to do that? I thought that if it's "legal tender" they can't refuse to accept it, or have I missed something along the way?

[Santa]

Shops etc have discretion as to what they will accept.

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.

http://edu.bankofengland.co.uk/knowl...-legal-tender/

[alan1302]

Originally Posted by smudger

Are they allowed to do that? I thought that if it's "legal tender" they can't refuse to accept it, or have I missed something along the way?

A shop can refuse to take any of your money as they don't have a legal responsibility to sell you anything if they choose not to.

[Snowball]

When I went to work as a draughtsman at GEC, Coventry towards the end of the 50's, I was paid with the old white £5 notes. At that time corner shops were still where you bought your groceries, and at first my wife was met with visible suspicion when she presented a fiver to pay the bill. Things relaxed after a couple of weeks, but she did hear some funny mutterings from nearby customers.

[smudger]

Aye! back then a £5 was a lot of money!...............When my folks opened their cafe back in 51, their very first customer paid with a £5 note!..........................My Mum had to run to all the neighbouring shops to try and get change?................................Back then, they were doing steak egg and chips for two shillings, and that was with bread and butter and a mug of tea!

[Snowball]

I remember being on a bus and a couple of men (not drunk but 'merry') getting on and one paid a fare of about fourpence with the then imperial paper pound note, and them finding it comical. The bus conductor gave him his change in pennies and halfpennies, which amounted to over 300 copper coins. Even spread between two pockets, two great bulges were obvious.

[Santa]

Depending on the mix, I make that not far short of 2½ kilos of copper.