# Do Britons (and I assume Canadians, Australians, etc.) All Have To Get New Passports Now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2022, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269 "2022-09-09T14:21:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/41 "2022-09-11T04:54:26Z")
Especially if you’re a CTer who distrusts banks and has a very large stash of very small bills. Or equivalently, if you’re somebody in the underground economy with lots of undeclared income & profit stored in suddenly-obsolete banknotes. c.f. > **[2016 Indian banknote demonetisation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Indian_banknote_demonetisation)** > > Premiership > Budgets Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/42 "2022-09-11T04:57:28Z")
I think that Canada, the States, the UK and Australia make up the exclusive club of nations which have never démonétisée their coins and notes. Maybe New Zealand as well. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/43 "2022-09-11T04:57:29Z")
I’m not old enough to personally remember it, but coins/stamps/etc featuring the previous monarch/glorious leader usually keep circulating until they’re used up/worn out. As far as I’m aware the only instant replacement of currency/stamps was in Germany in 1945, because it was covered in swastikas and other Nazi regalia, including [this guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Germany#/media/File:Adolf_Hitler_42_Pfennig_stamp.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/44 "2022-09-11T05:46:56Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I think that Canada, the States, the UK and Australia make up the exclusive club of nations which have never démonétisée their coins and notes. Not true for the U.K. Old banknotes become invalid, in fact this is happening for all paper banknotes at the end of September. Although, as I said above, you can always still exchange them - it appears that you would have to go with your grandma’s stash to the Bank Of England. > **[The new £50 enters circulation, and the paper £20 and £50 will be withdrawn...](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2021/june/the-new-50-enters-circulation-paper-20-and-50-will-be-withdrawn-in-2022)** > > Today, the new polymer £50 note featuring the scientist Alan Turing has entered circulation for the first time. > After 30 September 2022 Bank of England paper £20 and £50 notes will no longer be legal tender. This means that shops and other businesses should stop accepting paper notes after this date. We would encourage people to spend or deposit their remaining paper notes in advance of the withdrawal of legal tender status. Many banks will continue to accept paper notes as deposits from their own customers after 30 September 2022. The Post Office may also accept withdrawn notes as a deposit into any bank account you can access at the Post Office. Withdrawn notes are always able to be [exchanged with the Bank of England](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/exchanging-old-banknotes). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/45 "2022-09-11T09:44:44Z")
Yes, but the notes are still valid. As you say, it can be a bit cumbersome to exchange them for modem notes, but they still have their face value. Unlike the Indian notes mentioned by @LSLGuy , or the roubles that were demonitised by Russia, or the reichmarks that were demonitised by Weimar Germany, and so on, which are just waste paper. Ceasing to be legal tender is not the same as no longer valid. For example, the Bank of Canada has withdrawn its thousand dollar note, but if you have one, it still has its face value. You just have to make a special arrangement with a bank to exchange it. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/46 "2022-09-11T15:29:48Z")
There was a movie about this sort of thing. > **[Millions (2004) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366777/)** > > Millions: Directed by Danny Boyle. With Alex Etel, Lewis McGibbon, James Nesbitt, Daisy Donovan. Ethics, being human and the soul come to the fore when a 7-year old finds a bag of Pounds just days before the currency is switched to Euros and learns... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/47 "2022-09-11T15:32:51Z")
Excellent movie, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/48 "2022-09-11T15:40:01Z")
The British are known for their reserve and for keeping their emotions in-check. Yet their movies tug at the heartstrings. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/49 "2022-09-11T15:42:11Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Enough people had this question that the [New Zealand passport website](https://www.passports.govt.nz/) now states that “New Zealand passports are still valid following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.” My wife talked to her cousin in New Zealand yesterday. She said that the existing supply of money with QE will be issued before before any new is minted or printed with KC. New 20 dollar bills will take about a year and it will take a couple years for coinage. I still have some NZ money left over from our trip there 9 years ago, I would hope it would still be good next time we go. Our plans are to return in 2025. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/50 "2022-09-11T16:56:20Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Yes, but the notes are still valid. Surely not by any normal definition of “valid”, unless it has some technical meaning I’m unaware of? You cannot buy stuff with them! If something cannot be used for its intended purpose, I think it would be confusing to tell someone it is valid. The vocabulary I would choose is that (unlike the Indian example) they are not _worthless_, since (with considerable inconvenience) the BoE will still exchange them. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/51 "2022-09-11T17:01:23Z")
“Will pay to the bearer on demand”. It’s a mark of the stability of a currency - government notes hold their face value. The central banks will honour the notes. As I said, as opposed to the rouble and rupee notes that have no value whatever, except possibly as collector items. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/52 "2022-09-11T17:12:29Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > “Will pay to the bearer on demand”. As a matter of interest, does this have any significance with a fiat currency? It’s obviously a legacy from when the issuer would pay gold or silver. But when my £20 note says: > I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of £20 that seems a little circular. The plain English reading is that it’s just meaningless, it’s not explicitly an assurance that the Bank will always exchange it for some other physical instantiation of £20 that is legal tender, although I guess you could interpret it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/53 "2022-09-11T17:22:28Z")
It’s not circular, in the case of a withdrawn note. If you go to the bank with a £20 note that’s been withdrawn, and the bank branch is one of the ones that is authorised to take it, they’ll take the withdrawn note and give you a nice crisp new £20 note, or add some binary 1s and 0s to your account. The withdrawn note still has value, and the Bank of England will take it in and give you £20 for it. No merchant is required to take your old note, because it’s not legal tender, but the Bank of England will honour it. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/54 "2022-09-11T17:29:46Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I think that Canada, the States, the UK and Australia make up the exclusive club of nations which have never démonétisée their coins and notes. Maybe New Zealand as well. I think the UK flat-out demonetizes its obsolete coins. From the Royal Mint’s [page on the 50 pence coin](https://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/coin-design-and-specifications/fifty-pence-coin/), for instance: > **First Issued** Smaller version introduced September 1997 (Larger version introduced October 1969, demonetised in 1998) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/55 "2022-09-11T17:31:41Z")
We’re agreed on the facts of what will happen as matter of policy. You have not yet convinced me that the phrase > I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of £20 necessarily provides legal underpinning for that. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/56 "2022-09-11T17:50:05Z")
See the _Currency and Bank Notes Act 1954_, 2 & 3 Eliz II, c. 12, s. 1(4). The section overall makes it clear that Bank Notes can always be exchanged, even if not legal tender. > [@](#): > > **1 Issue and recall of bank notes by Bank of England.** > (1) The Bank of England may issue bank notes of such denominations as the Treasury may approve and shall not issue any other bank notes, and any bank notes issued under this section may be put into circulation in Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as in England and Wales. > > (2) All bank notes issued under this section shall be legal tender in England and Wales, and all such notes of denominations of less than five pounds shall be legal tender in Scotland and Northern Ireland. > > (3) Bank notes shall be payable only at the head office of the Bank of England unless expressly made payable also at some other place. > > **(4) The holder of bank notes of any denominations shall be entitled, on a demand made by him during office hours at the head office of the Bank of England or, in the case of notes payable also at some place other than the head office, either at the head office or at that other place, to receive in exchange for the notes bank notes of such lower denominations, being bank notes which for the time being are legal tender in the United Kingdom or in England and Wales, as he may specify.** > > (5) The Bank of England shall have power, on giving not less than one month’s notice in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes, to call in any bank notes on payment of the face value thereof, and any such notes with respect to which a notice has been given under this subsection shall on the expiration of the notice cease to be legal tender. > > (6)All bank notes which, immediately before the commencement of this Act, were legal tender in the United Kingdom, or were legal tender in England and Wales subject to the provisions of section six of the Bank of England Act 1833 (under which five-pound notes were not legal tender by the Bank of England), shall be deemed to have been issued under this section and shall be legal tender accordingly in the United Kingdom or, as the case may be, in England and Wales. > **[Currency and Bank Notes Act 1954](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/2-3/12)** > > An Act to amend the law with respect to the issue and recall of bank notes by the Bank of England. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/57 "2022-09-11T17:52:15Z")
Having to travel to “the head office of the Bank of England” to exchange one’s bank notes really isn’t practical for many people. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/58 "2022-09-11T17:57:15Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > I think the UK flat-out demonetizes its obsolete coins. From the Royal Mint’s [page on the 50 pence coin](https://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/coin-design-and-specifications/fifty-pence-coin/), for instance: _Demonetize_ may not have the meaning you think it has. Yes, it has been deprived of its status as money, in the sense that you cannot use it to buy something, but it still retains its value as half of a GBP. That is, one can take it to the bank and exchange it for a current 50p. People with old coins are well advised to check and see if their market value is more than their face value. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/59 "2022-09-11T18:01:02Z")
True, but that’s the legal guarantee. How it will be implemented will vary with the banknote. For example, the Bank of England has declared that the paper £20 and £50 notes are being replaced with polymer ones, and that effective September 30, the paper ones cease to be legal tender. However, it will be easy to redeem those notes after that date, as set out on the Bank of England webpage: > [@](#): > > ## What to do with paper notes after 30 September > > Once the 30 September 2022 deadline has passed, you will no longer be able to use Bank of England paper notes in shops, or use them to pay businesses. > > After this date, many UK banks will accept withdrawn notes as deposits from customers. Some Post Offices may also accept withdrawn notes as a deposit into any bank account you can access with them. > > The Bank of England will always [exchange any withdrawn notes](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/exchanging-old-banknotes), including paper notes we have withdrawn in the past. But the older the note, the more likely you’ll have to make special arrangements with the B of E. If you’re trying to exchange a note from 1700, for example, you’ld probably have to make special arrangements. Bottom line, though, is that you’ve got a legal guarantee that notes keep their face value. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269/60 "2022-09-11T18:05:49Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The section overall makes it clear that Bank Notes can always be exchanged, even if not legal tender. No, Section (4) that you highlighted does not address recalled notes. It says that the Bank will exchange notes of a higher denomination for notes of a lower denomination. It does not say that this applies to notes of higher denomination that are no longer legal tender. If the intent of (4) is to include the exchange of recalled banknotes, why conflate that issue with the higher/lower denomination issue, and why have a different section below that does _specifically_ address recalled notes? My read is that Section (4) requiring the exchange of higher denominations for lower denominations relates to the fact (see Section (2)) that higher denominations are legal tender only in England and Wales, whereas lower denominations are legal tender throughout the U.K. Section (5) is the only one that explicitly addresses recall, requiring one month’s notice during which the Bank must exchange recalled notes. It does not say that the Bank is legally obligated to do anything after the date when recalled notes cease to be legal tender. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-britons-and-i-assume-canadians-australians-etc-all-have-to-get-new-passports-now/971269.md?page=4)