Will we have a problem using 50 pound notes?
 

the bank gave me only GBP 50's claiming that was all they had. Afterwards, someone told me that 50's are not welcome in England because people are afraid they are counterfeit. Is this true??

you can always change them at a bank if you find problems

next time use your atm card at London airports atms and the zillions everywhere and save tons of money with a much better exchange rate and lower fees.

Yes it's true that a lot of places won't take them. This is because of forgeries. £50 can make a hell of a dent on a days profits for some businesses.

Having said that you can change them at the banks.

You can easily change them at banks, but yes not a lot of places accept them, betting shops do (i used to work in one) and most staff there are happy to give change. They are also open longer then banks.

As someone who lives in Britain, I can say that I barely know what a £50 note looks like. Cash machines usually dispense £20s and £10s.

I have to mention that as I reached in my wallet to get money to pay for my morning coffee at a Pret a Manger this summer, I realized all I had was a 50 pound note. I hesitated as I held it up, and the clerk took it, made change and didn't bat an eye. My bill was what -- 1.29 or so?
Maybe not usual, but it sure didn't phase him.

Oh - please tell us you don't have more than 2 or 3 of those £50 notes . . . .

Or did you buy a LOT of £ at home? If so, it is too late to help you but for others - don't buy many (or any) £/€ ahead of time. Just use your ATM card to get cash after you are in the UK.

But - yes you will find many places that will take the notes, but also many that won't. The others gave good info - if a merchant won't take one, break them in a bank.

We have a retail business and see millions of pounds pass through our hands - to date we have seen ONE 50 pound note - presented by a Japanese tourist who apparently had a bundle of them - the member of staff concerned who accepted it was swiftly corrected.

We do not like 50 pound notes due to the risk - they are simply not common currency in many areas.

I can't comment on the 50 note, but can on a 50 Euro bill/note (whatever it's called-may even be the same thing), but I just returned from traveling a few countries in Europe. I had no problem using ATM's to withdraw money. Every withdrawal except one, I got all 50's. When I tried to use them, I was met with some unhappy glares. Mostly in Italy. I'm guessing they prefer to deal w/ the coins or small bills. So long story short, I tried to make change where I could just so that I wouldn't get the dreaded look when purchasing something.

jkve2

It is true that at times from an ATM machine, you will get the larger bills and what I have always done is get at least one of them changed a day at my hotel desk, they are glad to accomodate. Have a great trip. Halfpint

50E note is very common - hardly ever see 50 quid notes

Hmmmm...I think I'm going back to my bank tomorrow to get some smaller notes! When they gave me the pounds the teller said that "was all they had".

Java2Hot: Where are you -- what country?? If they said they only had £50 notes that's likely all they had. If in the USA for instance - banks don't just have a lots of £ laying around.

jkve2: The way to avoid that is to withdraw an amount that is not divisable by 50. If you w/d €340 or €220 etc., the machine will have to dispense some smaller notes.

I have used 50-pound notes successfully. The supermarkets are the best place, probably.

Harrod's is good ;)

I've heard, although no cite to back this up, that the paranoia about forged £50s is overblown, and that specifically because it's so hard to use them anywhere except places such as banks, counterfeits are very hard to get into circulation in large numbers. The £20 is a much bigger target for forgeries, because it's still of high value, but accepted without question.

Prior to our UK trip I got pounds at my bank here in Stuttgart and they also gave me mostly 50s. We were driving, so of course the very first thing we had to do was pay for a parking meter that only accepted coins. I had to break one of the bills on an ice cream cone. So I'd suggest getting your hands on some coins before you leave.

It was frustrating walking around with the equivalent of $100 bills but I just tried to break them on meals or when I made a larger purchase. They were never refused.

A couple of years ago there was a big problem with forged £50.

New notes came out recently so there are fewer forgeries about but the paranoia remains.

If your bank won't change them change them at the first bank you see in the UK.

Hang on to those large denomination notes...they are increasing in value. How much has a 50 Euro note appreciated in the last year? Perhaps todays visitor should stock up on local currency for next year's trip.

Good point from hausfrau about having some small change when you first arrive, but you are unlikely to get coins anywhere outside the UK. Suggest you stop at W H Smith (newsagents) or one of the other airport shops in the arrivals area, and make a small purchase to break one of those £50 notes.

Another option is to find a friend who has been to the U.K. recently and may have brought home some small bills and/or change.

There will be a Bureau d'exchange (or the cambio of weasels) at the airport who will break at least one of the notes. Your hotel can probably sort out the rest.

The only note i am aware of that almost no one in England will touch is the Scottish £20, as there really are an awful lot of forgeries around and most shop staff haven't seen enough genuine ones to tell the difference.

Well, after scrounging around the house I managed to find two £5 notes and a couple of coins. This will have to do until I get to a UK bank, unless I have time to get to the local bank.

Thanks!

Sorry David, I have to disagree - I have *never* had a Scottish note refused in England.

You probably don't move in the circles I do! (and for that, be thankful) It's common to get them knocked back in London - especially in pubs.

Maybe so :-)

The more I think about this the more puzzled I become. In London I usually take out 300 pounds at a time. Don't I get that as something like 5 50's, 2 20's, and a 10? I'm almost certain that Barclays spits out primarily 50's on those larger withdrawals. I mentioned before when I only had a 50 -- it had to have come from an ATM. I just don't recall ever having the 50's being a problem in central London -- and I only use cash for small purchases.
Am I wrong? Aren't 50's very common from ATMs?

I've never had a bullseye out of a ATM. I can't imagine that the bank would load a tray of McGarretts rather than scores.

I must move in the same refined and genteel circles as Caroline because I have never had a Scottish note refused and I've been travelling back and to Scotland for 40 years.
Mind you, I can imagine that a busy barman might have doubts.
I have never had a £50 from a cash machine. It's always 10s and 20s nowadays.

So you're suggesting I normally get 15 -20's out of an ATM in London? That's what would happen at home in the US, but funny, I just don't recall getting such a wad of cash in London. In fact it seems I've always noted having just a few LARGE bills. I could be wrong, but it's impossible to imagine where or why I'd have converted those 20's into a 50.

Things may be different in high traffic areas like the west end populated by people who might want larger withdrawals than usual. We Brits don't usually use these - we normally use the machines in our local high streets.

If my local ATM bunged me two ponies, I'd kick it.

I think that's a good point, but at the same time, I doubt you'd often be asking for 300 pounds either, would you? Maybe those big bills only come out on bigger withdrawals? I usually use the busy ATMs at Barclays on Charing Cross Road, sort of behind the National Gallery.

Not only have I never had a £50 note from an ATM (and I suspect I use ATMs in England's tourist areas more than farce, Miss Prism or any of nthe Americans here), but most ATMs, most of the time, tell you you can't get odd multiples of £50. £200 invariably comes out as 10x20, and you get a choice of £160 or £140 if you want £150.

Indeed, when I once had a slight professional interest in all this, there was no market for ATM-quality £50 notes, at a time when getting enough ATM-quality 20s and 10s was a real issue in the banking industry.

£50 notes live a weird half-life, used semi-legitimately only by us low-level money-launderers, racecourse bookies, post offices paying out welfare benefits and businesses that pay wages in cash. Manual workers and welfare dependents get these notes and hand them straight over to supermarkets or landlords - who them put them straight back into the bank. I imagine (though farce is doubtless the expert on this) they're not even used in the drug trade, since pushers are probably just as leery of them as the rest of us.

£50 notes are used very extensively at the higher levels of drug dealing and other organised crime - it's a matter of transportability (which is why diamonds are also used). The real favourite of your drug lord is the €500 note.

Dealing with small denomination cash is actually a serious logistcal problem for drug dealers (So if you ever wonder why your local tanning salon never seems to run out of change and fivers - now you know)

Appropos drugs. one in 45 British banknotes tests positive for cocaine. I thought you might like to know that.

"£50 notes are used very extensively at the higher levels of drug dealing and other organised crime. . ."


OH, OK, thanks for explaining how I got that 50 pound note! LOL

This is so weird. Because I've also had £50 notes out of ATM machines. In Feb I got two in a w/drawal at LHR, two from an ATM machine in Leicester Sq just across from TKTS and another 1 (or possibly 2 - can't remember for sure) at Henrietta & Southampton just off Covent Garden.

Aha! The penny drops! You might be using the independent ATMs rather than the banks own machines.

No - never have, never will. They were all regular bank ATM's

At 50€ note at least is THE standard banknote, never had a problem. A 500€ note will be more of a problem at smaller stores, but not at supermarkets. Cash rules! :-)