£50 pound notes

[sailaboutvic]

Just out of interest , last time back home I was in a chandlers and went to pay for a part £12.40 with a £50 pound note and was told they didn't take 50 notes , I also notes lots of shop with signs up saying they wouldn't take 50 note , surely this in this day and age 50 isn't much , while sailing in Europe to pay with a 50 no one blinks a eye lid , I have been know to buy some thing for say 70 € and pay with a 200note in the pass with any big deal have this changed back in the U.K. or is £50 still not excepted in some shops .

 

[Champagne Murphy]

High risk of forged notes with fifties. Saw one yesterday for the first time in ages.

 

[prv]

I doubt anything has changed. I don't know for sure because £50 notes are rarely seen - most of the cash in circulation probably originates at a cash machine, and they generally only issue tens and twenties. In fact I'm not certain I've ever been in possession of a £50 note, and I can't remember when I last saw one.

My impression is that the majority of people nowadays pay with a card or sometimes, for smaller purchases, a smartphone. Not infrequently when I do pay with cash, the assistant is already moving the card machine in my direction and has to put it back down and open the till when they notice the paper in my hand instead of plastic.

Pete

 

[sailaboutvic]

ATM in Europe you more likely to get 50 then any thing else last few times I used one only once I got any 20 and 10 the rest was made up of 50 .

 

[Glenlivet]

In Europe, where 100 and 500 Euro notes are legal tender and freely available, trying to spend either is almost impossible due to forgery and their use as a means of laundering dirty money. The €500 note is due to be withdrawn from circulation for this reason.

 

[maby]

As noted above, there has been a high level of forgery of £50 notes and the risk is simply too high. Some European countries have more of a cash culture than Britain and probably make more use of high denomination notes than we do. My wife is Spanish and we have spent a lot of time there - it has always surprised me how many large transactions are settled in cash.

 

[Laysula]

Just out of interest , last time back home I was in a chandlers and went to pay for a part £12.40 with a £50 pound note and was told they didn't take 50 notes , I also notes lots of shop with signs up saying they wouldn't take 50 note , surely this in this day and age 50 isn't much , while sailing in Europe to pay with a 50 no one blinks a eye lid , I have been know to buy some thing for say 70 € and pay with a 200note in the pass with any big deal have this changed back in the U.K. or is £50 still not excepted in some shops .

If you don't think that £50 is much, you can always give me your unusable £50 notes.

 

[bedouin]

I doubt anything has changed. I don't know for sure because £50 notes are rarely seen - most of the cash in circulation probably originates at a cash machine, and they generally only issue tens and twenties. In fact I'm not certain I've ever been in possession of a £50 note, and I can't remember when I last saw one.

My impression is that the majority of people nowadays pay with a card or sometimes, for smaller purchases, a smartphone. Not infrequently when I do pay with cash, the assistant is already moving the card machine in my direction and has to put it back down and open the till when they notice the paper in my hand instead of plastic.

Pete

There was a phase 3 or 4 years ago when cash machines would regularly issue £50 notes - I recall on one occasion going to the one in the lobby of my office building, withdrawing £100 and getting 2x£50 notes. A bit of a pain but okay provided you "broke" the note on a reasonable size purchase.

That seems to have changed and I don't remember getting a £50 from a cash machine for a couple of years. That said I don't visit cash machines very often now - plastic is so much more convenient

 

[colind3782]

The ATMs here in Empuriabrava only issue €50 notes. However, all the supermarkets have note scanners and they check all notes through them. Saying that, most places happily take €50s as they know a lot of people are just trying to break them up into smaller denominations. It's illegal here now to take more than €1500 in cash per transaction.

 

[Graham_Wright]

When I bought the engine for my boat (from Norris), I drew the cash from the bank the day before. I handed over the money and lashed the engine (BMC 1.5) onto the trailer. As I was driving away, I saw a frantic chase in the rear view mirror. I stopped.

The staff had high tailed it to the local bank with the notes for checking. Three of the fifties were forgeries.

Police were called. I had to empty my pockets and was damn near stripped. The questioning went on and on. I telephoned my bank who confirmed that they had issued the £1500 in notes the previous day. They made a bank to bank instant transfer to cover the £150 and I was released.

There was no proof that the forged fifties were those the bank had issued but those were the days when we had gentleman bank managers.

This was many years ago.

 

[longjohnsilver]

I doubt anything has changed. I don't know for sure because £50 notes are rarely seen - most of the cash in circulation probably originates at a cash machine, and they generally only issue tens and twenties. In fact I'm not certain I've ever been in possession of a £50 note, and I can't remember when I last saw one.

My impression is that the majority of people nowadays pay with a card or sometimes, for smaller purchases, a smartphone. Not infrequently when I do pay with cash, the assistant is already moving the card machine in my direction and has to put it back down and open the till when they notice the paper in my hand instead of plastic.

Pete

My first 50s came from a cash machine just a few weeks back. I was rather surprised to get them, but by then it was too late to do anything about it other than spend them, but you then almost feel obliged to make a larger purchase to get rid of the thing.

The cash machines I use in Spain allow you to choose which denomination notes you want, but as said a few times already on this thread, €50 notes are pretty commonplace and never any issues in using them.

 

[vyv_cox]

The ATMs here in Empuriabrava only issue €50 notes. However, all the supermarkets have note scanners and they check all notes through them. Saying that, most places happily take €50s as they know a lot of people are just trying to break them up into smaller denominations. It's illegal here now to take more than €1500 in cash per transaction.

Exactly the same in Greece. We occasionally get two €20 and one €10 in a bundle with €50 when drawing about €300.

 

[DJE]

I was once paid £1,000 in cash for a job. All in £50 notes. Got a few funny looks in Sainsburys for a the next few weeks.

 

[duncan99210]

Last time I saw £50 notes was when we were selling things prior to setting off as live aboards. Sold two cars, a motorbike and a mobo, all for cash. In all cases, about two thirds of the cash was £50 notes, the rest £20s. Bank didn’t blink an eyelid about the cash and I didn’t try spending any as it was all headed into deposit accounts, so no idea about actually spending a £50 note, especially these days.
Here in Greece, the ATM typically give €50 notes which are a minor pain as just about every shop in Greece has a shortage of change (why?). Most large shops have a note checker that they routinely feed €20 and €50 through before accepting them.

 

[Sybarite]

In Europe, where 100 and 500 Euro notes are legal tender and freely available, trying to spend either is almost impossible due to forgery and their use as a means of laundering dirty money. The €500 note is due to be withdrawn from circulation for this reason.

In Switzerland paying by cash is almost the norm and using SF500 notes doesn't cause the blink of an eyelid.

SWMBO from Switzerland found this to her cost when she first tried to present a €500 note at the supermarket in Brittany.

 

[prv]

Here in Greece, the ATM typically give €50 notes which are a minor pain as just about every shop in Greece has a shortage of change (why?).

Why? Because the ATMs give out €50 notes, of course

Pete

 

[Portofino]

In Switzerland paying by cash is almost the norm and using SF500 notes doesn't cause the blink of an eyelid.

SWMBO from Switzerland found this to her cost when she first tried to present a €500 note at the supermarket in Brittany.

We live in CH and the cash machines give out often a single note .
That’s there default position seemingly.I think you can tap about but you only get say 2x 100 instead of 1x 200 .

Like if you ask for 200 you get a 200 CH franc note or even once I got a single 500 CH Fr from a cash machine of a private bank in Gstaad .
It was only to buy a crepe for lunch ,and top up some cash .

At supermarkets they don,t think twice I,ve often seen people handing over a 1000 CH Franc note .

 

[BrianH]

In Switzerland paying by cash is almost the norm and using SF500 notes doesn't cause the blink of an eyelid.

I once bought a car and the private vendor wanted cash. I went to the bank and they asked if large denominations were acceptable, I said they were, they counted out a wad of Sfr 1'000 banknotes. The seller didn't comment, just counted them and put them in his pocket.

SWMBO from Switzerland found this to her cost when she first tried to present a €500 note at the supermarket in Brittany.

The ECB has finally acceded to long-standing pressure from Europol to stop the production of the €500 banknote and it ceases at the end of this year. International law enforcement agencies have always claimed the banknote has replaced the US $100 bill as the main criminal currency - drug-dealing, money laundering, etc., as large values can be transferred in smaller physical consignments. Only the Swiss fr1'000 and Singapore $1'000 have more value but their limited numbers in circulation preclude their use.

.

 

[bedouin]

urrency - drug-dealing, money laundering, etc., as large quantities can be transferred in smaller physical consignments. Only the Swiss fr1'000 and Singapore $1'000 have more value but their limited numbers in circulation preclude their use.

Doesn't UK still have £1million notes?

 

[Glenlivet]

Doesn't UK still have £1million notes?

Not in my house