Can I request Two Dollar Bills?

[dejo]

Well, I was assuming they were smart enough to exchange their money before they crossed the border.

...but otherwise, you would be right.

Then that would've been "our currency is the first item tourists will see prior to coming to the US." The fact that the bills all have the same color scheme probably doesn't help either. Although the newest design are starting to show some differentiation.

 

[EricNau]

Then that would've been "our currency is the first item tourists will see prior to coming to the US."

Not if they have it in their hand and stare at it while crossing the border. ...OK, I give up.

The fact that the bills all have the same color scheme probably doesn't help either. Although the newest design are starting to show some differentiation.

Ya, I actually like the new designs, I just wish they'd hurry up and finish the rest of 'em.

 

[OutThere]

You also get them as change from the new Charlie ticket machines in MBTA stations.

They have automated ticket machines for new york's MTA stations...which give dollar coins as change.

I found this out the hard way...I'd always paid by credit card before, but had lots of cash. Paid for a $4 train ticket with a $50.

 

[Applespider]

It continues to fail because the $1 bill is still available. Canada destroyed theirs and the people have gotten used to the loonie.

In the UK, they ran the two in parallel for a while but announced there would be no more £1 notes printed - aside from Scotland where everyone got so used to £1 coins that only one bank of the three Scottish banks still produces £1 notes. Unlike the dollar coin/quarter similarity, our £1 coins are relatively small (so not as weighty) and quite thick so they can't be easily mistaken.

And I'm sure that people like carrying those coins around in the pockets or in their bag. All that weight for so little money.

It's not quite so bad as you think since I'd guess most people don't carry around lots of coinage - you tend to spend it again pretty quickly. It's rare that I have more than £10 in coins in my purse...most of the time it's under £5 and then larger denomination notes.

I like them because they don't get as bedraggled as paper money and feel cleaner. For that reason, they're a lot easier to put in vending machines etc that trying to persuade a slightly creased note that it wants to go in. They're also easier to drop into busker tip bottles and charity tins. However, it's harder to tip people with coins in hotels where you can't just palm a rolled up note to them...

 

[MalcolmJID]

this is true. 1p and 2p pieces here get tiring after a while. you always find your pocket full of copper.

the one bank note that is always in short supply in shops is £5 notes. They're so commonly used, stores dont have enough, so give when possible, give you £5 in change in £1 coins. It strikes me as odd that when the £2 coin came out, everyone was using them... now... you get them now and then. I for one collect them, because they release collecting coins in general circulation. At the moment its WWII and Brunnel. I have one with the celebration of DNA on it with a double Helix, XVIII Commonwealth games. A rugby one, cant remember whats on it...

I work in a shop, and £5 are hardly ever in.
It's annoying in the morning when the OAPs come in for a paper (Daily Express - 40p) and then pay with a £20 note. *ROAR!* 'Coz I never have any £5 notes, it's always a £10 note and then 9 £1 coins. Meaning I always run out. It's so annoying. They should supply shops with £5 notes.

 

[jimN]

Try going shopping in England with Scottish money, always makes me laugh how they check it 5 times before grudgingly accepting it. Made to feel a foreigner in almost your own country....

You are a foreigner in our country

But why is it that not content with having your own notes, you then let every bank mint it's own variety? That's why we don't trust those damn monopoly-esque things.

 

[Applespider]

But why is it that not content with having your own notes, you then let every bank mint it's own variety?

Because they're pretty In all honesty, I don't mind someone checking there's a watermark etc when I hand over a Scottish note. It's when they feel obliged to wander off to find a manager since they don't seem to believe the 'pounds sterling' stamped on it that tends to bug me.

 

[MalcolmJID]

You are a foreigner in our country

But why is it that not content with having your own notes, you then let every bank mint it's own variety? That's why we don't trust those damn monopoly-esque things.

Many shops now don't accept Scottish notes for this reason. (inc. my own )

 

[MACDRIVE]

That's my job. MR pays me well for it.

You get payed by MR?

 

[Fuzzy14]

You are a foreigner in our country

But why is it that not content with having your own notes, you then let every bank mint it's own variety? That's why we don't trust those damn monopoly-esque things.

I was waiting for somebody to rise to that quote!
It's historical, in England every bank issued it's own note up until the first world war (see this link). Scotland just continued doing so.

It's only Monopoly money if you aren't used to it. I personally don't like Bank of England notes just because I am not familiar with them. But if somebody hands me one I don't create a big fuss about it.

Many shops now don't accept Scottish notes for this reason. (inc. my own )

Sadly they aren't legal tender so we can't force you to accept them, this is because they are 'promise' notes although they do state 'Sterling' on them. The only things which are legal tender are coins (issued by the Royal Mint) and confusingly, the Bank of England one pound note which you abolished. Hey if you don't want our money we will take it elsewhere.

Does your shop accept Euros? I know many big department stores (i.e. M&S) will take them although they don't advertise the fact.

 

[NATO]

I was waiting for somebody to rise to that quote!
It's historical, in England every bank issued it's own note up until the first world war (see this link). Scotland just continued doing so.

It's only Monopoly money if you aren't used to it. I personally don't like Bank of England notes just because I am not familiar with them. But if somebody hands me one I don't create a big fuss about it.

Sadly they aren't legal tender so we can't force you to accept them, this is because they are 'promise' notes although they do state 'Sterling' on them. The only things which are legal tender are coins (issued by the Royal Mint) and confusingly, the Bank of England one pound note which you abolished. Hey if you don't want our money we will take it elsewhere.

Does your shop accept Euros? I know many big department stores (i.e. M&S) will take them although they don't advertise the fact.

Northern Ireland takes the situation in Scotland to another level. In addition to Bank of England and the Scottish notes (I know Clydesdale Bank prints their own notes, I'm not sure of the others), we have notes printed by Northern Bank, Ulster Bank, First Trust Bank and the Bank of Ireland.

I'm told by a friend who works for one of the 'local' banks here (Ulster Bank, which is just a specially branded Natwest) that it's cheaper for businesses/shops to buy in local notes, as Bank of England notes require an extra fee to be paid to the Bank of England to be able to purchase from them.

All said, I think the situation is a bit crazy as tourists coming to Scotland and Northern Ireland will find an array of banknotes of all denominations which all look completely different. Why can't the UK standardise it's banknotes? I know when I travelled to Spain on Holiday, it was reassuring to know what 'Banco de España' notes looked like so I would know how to tell a fake. I don't know how anyone apart from the people who live here could tell the current banknotes are real or fake.

I find it particularly amusing how on a trip to London, it's easier to spend Euros (a foreign currency) than it is to spend Pounds Sterling printed by a Northern Irish or Scottish Bank...

 

[combatcolin]

Many shops now don't accept Scottish notes for this reason. (inc. my own )

Same in a lot of places.

 

[SilentPanda]

I've found that most non-US coins have the number on them whereas US coins don't have a number written on them. Makes my trips outside the US easy but I would imagine it could be difficult for a foreigner in the US to make change. Although usually I just let the cashier over seas make the change for me because I still take too long!

 

[Fuzzy14]

Why can't the UK standardise it's banknotes?

UK banknotes will be standardised in a couple of years after Brown takes over from Blair. They are going to do away with local printing and rename the currency "Euro".

 

[Hummer]

They have automated ticket machines for new york's MTA stations...which give dollar coins as change.

I found this out the hard way...I'd always paid by credit card before, but had lots of cash. Paid for a $4 train ticket with a $50.

How did that work out? They usually only give back a max of 6 dollars in change.

 

[Applespider]

Same in a lot of places.

It's not that common to refuse. You get the odd extra scrutiny of the notes but I can't recall the last time someone refused to take a Scottish note and I tend to end up with them several times a year in London.

In fact, there's only been one shop in the past 10 years I've been in London who has been remotely antsy about it who started talking rubbish about it and drawing over virtually the entire thing with her marker pen several times. She really acted as if I was a fraudster but her card system wasn't working and that was all I had on me. The shop is just down the road from me but I've never been back since - more because of her attitude than anything else.

 

[Fuzzy14]

there's only been one shop in the past 10 years I've been in London who has been remotely antsy about it

You're right, London seems to be different (probably because of all the Scots who live there!), I've never had any trouble there.

 

[Tanglewood]

I've found that most non-US coins have the number on them whereas US coins don't have a number written on them. Makes my trips outside the US easy but I would imagine it could be difficult for a foreigner in the US to make change. Although usually I just let the cashier over seas make the change for me because I still take too long!

Well at least with the new dollar coin that should be easier since they are replacing "one dollar" with "$1".

I've never had trouble getting ahold of a two dollar note though I have had trouble getting the one dollar coin last year at a bank. I asked to get a roll of them and they had to check ever teller's drawer and they could only find about 6, not ever enough for a whole roll.

---

What I like about the coinage in UK compared to the US is that if you have a lot of change in your pocket you know its worth something; where as if you had a lot of change in your pocket here at most its worth $1.50 which won't buy you much. I also compare change in Euros to having change in the US except that they have the one and two Euro coin.

---

Oh and just wondering would anyone accept this in England:

or any other notes from Britain's overseas territories?

 

[SkyBell]

Wikipedia says a new series was printed in 2003.

Steve Wozniak is mentioned in the article.

"Steve Wozniak has been known to pay for services using a $2 note from a "pad" of money—he buys uncut sheets of bills from the Treasury and has them bound into booklets; they are fully legal tender despite their perforated edges. On one occasion, this got him into a spot of trouble at a casino in Las Vegas."

 

[Macmaniac]

Heh I collect $2 bills from time to time, I got some nice old ones from the 1930s. They had a different background, which I like compared to the 1976 version.

 

[Ish]

If I go to a bank and want to make a withdrawal, can I request it in two-dollar bills? Is this something a bank is supposed to keep in stock?

You paying a ransom or something?

 

[WithTea]

Wow - I didn't realize money was so unregulated in Britain - and I've been there! I was twelve, though, so that could have something to do with it. It must be an awful pain for cashiers when authenticating bills.

By the way, can the US please put some colour into their money? I understand it takes away from the significance of the "greenback", but it's so much faster when every bill is a different colour.

 

[Bibulous]

I think the major fault with the $1 coin is that it does not work with most vending machines, were as the paper dollar does.

 

[jimN]

Many shops now don't accept Scottish notes for this reason. (inc. my own )

I know that in Boots they can actually get pictures up of all the notes just so that they know what they should look like - I can fully understand someone being suspicious of a note that thye have never seen before, especially if they think that thye know what Scottish money looks like.

 

[MongoTheGeek]

By the way, can the US please put some colour into their money? I understand it takes away from the significance of the "greenback", but it's so much faster when every bill is a different colour.

Problem is that to use the different colors make it look like play money. I imagine the uniformity and blandness is one of the things that makes US money universally accepted.