# How long will old UK banknotes stay in circulation after QE2's death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515 "2012-12-29T20:10:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/21 "2012-12-30T10:00:33Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > I dont mind a figure head Monarch, but I also wouldn’t mind a more Canadian bank note. What would you put on them instead? Poutine? Igloos? Wayne Gretzky? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/22 "2012-12-30T10:07:07Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > What would you put on them instead? Poutine? Igloos? Wayne Gretzky? Scientists and artists. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/23 "2012-12-30T10:18:06Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Scientists and artists. You got it. In fact, why have people at all? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/24 "2012-12-30T16:01:11Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > What would you put on them instead? Poutine? Igloos? Wayne Gretzky? William Shatner. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/25 "2012-12-30T16:12:28Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > William Shatner. Hey man, can you spot me a Kirk till Thursday? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/26 "2012-12-30T17:48:55Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Hey man, can you spot me a Kirk till Thursday? I don’t have that big a bill on me. How about 2 Neil Youngs and an Alan Thicke? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/27 "2012-12-30T18:16:11Z")
She is only 86 or so. There really isn’t any reason to start worrying until she hits 105, the age her mother (who smoked and she doesn’t) passed away. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/28 "2012-12-30T18:43:50Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > I recall in the pre-decimalisation days that you’d sometime get a Victorian penny in your change, so that would make those coins 70 years old or more. > > I can’t see why we would change from that sort of precedent. I remember those from my shooldays in the early 60s. So-called ‘bun’ pennies were the real catch, pennies from early in Victoria’s reign when her hair was fashioned into a bun. There was also the rumoured William IV penny but I never saw one of those, if indded they still circulated. The bun pennies by then would have been around 120 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/29 "2012-12-30T18:49:52Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Hey man, can you spot me a Kirk till Thursday? I haven’t got any Kirks, but I can loan you a [Spock](http://www.margonaut.com/newblog/2010/02/fun-with-canadian-money/). ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/30 "2012-12-30T19:33:24Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > William Shatner. Well Canada has already put living musicians like Anne Murray and Gordon Lightfoot [on stamps](http://www.circle.mb.ca/news/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/cpc_popstars1_rgb_437.jpg), so why not? ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/31 "2012-12-30T22:35:17Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I haven’t got any Kirks, but I can loan you a [Spock](http://www.margonaut.com/newblog/2010/02/fun-with-canadian-money/). Spock me a 50, wouldja? I’ll pay you back next stardate. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/32 "2012-12-31T01:59:09Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > She is only 86 or so. There really isn’t any reason to start worrying until she hits 105, the age her mother (who smoked and she doesn’t) passed away. 1. [Queeny.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_The_Queen_Mother) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/33 "2012-12-31T11:11:23Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > It never expires in the UK either. > > _ **Are old Bank of England notes worthless?** > No; all Bank of England notes retain their face value for all time. If your local bank, building society or Post Office is not willing to accept these notes then they can be exchanged with the Bank of England in London._ > > [http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/about/faqs.aspx#1](http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/about/faqs.aspx#1) Doesn’t expire in the sense that you can exchange them if you schlep all the way to the Bank of England, but you’d need quite a few to make that worthwhile if you lived up the other end of the country. In practical terms, BoE notes are withdrawn usually within a couple of years of the new design coming in. The most recently changed note was the £20. A new design featuring Adam Smith (who?) was issued in March 2007, and the old design (with Elgar) was withdrawn [in 2010](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10453756). Banks could continue to accept them “at their discretion” but by now I doubt you’d have any luck exchanging them anywhere but the BoE. You certainly wouldn’t be able to spend them unless you found a fairly clueless shop assistant. In the event of Charles becoming king, I would expect new banknotes to be issued within a few months of his accession to the throne, with QEII notes being withdrawn within maybe three years. Coins would, I imagine, continue to circulate indefinitely. Stamps would also, I am fairly certain, remain valid indefinitely - right up to decimalisation you could still have used an 1840 Penny Black as part of the postage on a letter. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/34 "2012-12-31T14:30:37Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > When the Queen dies, new banknotes will be issued with King Chuck’s smiling phiz on them. I suppose we have to consider the possibility that PC will never make it to KC. As noted QE may outlive him. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/35 "2012-12-31T14:44:20Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Doesn’t expire in the sense that you can exchange them if you schlep all the way to the Bank of England, but you’d need quite a few to make that worthwhile if you lived up the other end of the country. OK, but it’s the same thing (and of course you can send the old notes back to the Bank of England rather than delivering them in person). The old notes continue to be recognised by the B. of E. Meanwhile, retailers continue to have discretion over what tokens they accept in exchange for goods. They are under no obligation to accept current notes and coins. On the other hand, they are free to accept older currency, or for that matter euros, dollars, goat skins, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/36 "2012-12-31T14:49:45Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Doesn’t expire in the sense that you can exchange them if you schlep all the way to the Bank of England, but you’d need quite a few to make that worthwhile if you lived up the other end of the country. They have more than one location, so for most people it wouldn’t need to be a cross-country schlep. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/37 "2012-12-31T15:43:30Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > They have more than one location, so for most people it wouldn’t need to be a cross-country schlep. Do they? I’m not aware of any other Bank of England other than the “old lady of Threadneedle Street”. The site linked above does say “the Bank of England in London”. On edit I do see that there are other BoE branches around the country - I never knew that! Doesn’t look as though they accept old notes though. However you can also send in old banknotes for exchange [by post](http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/about/exchanges.aspx). At your own risk, of course. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515/38 "2012-12-31T15:44:35Z")
The Canadian coins other than nickels and pennies pretty much disappeared thanks to the Hunt brothers. When silver hit a massive high, the dimes, quarters, etc. were worth more than their face value; people began hoarding them and melting them down (illegally). I remember in the late 60’s you would find Edward quarters so old they were almost worn smooth. You still might get the odd George VII nickel or penny today. Just a few years ago I would find the V-for\_Victory nickels from the early 1940’s. The queen is only on the $20 bill. (and all coins - someone’s gotta be “heads”). We already have a series of used politicians on the other bills, with no logic; the most obscure PM (Borden) is on the $100 bill. They just have to be dead long ago enough that nobody gets excited about them. They considered putting a “generic scientist” on the picture back of the C$100 bill and apparently changed their mind, that raised a stink “because she looked asian”. [http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/08/17/canada-100-bills-asian-woman-banned\_n\_1794663.html](http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/08/17/canada-100-bills-asian-woman-banned_n_1794663.html) With paper money, generally they didn’t have to “withdraw” it. After a few years, we would still get the occasional old-style bills, but generally they died a graceful death and were withdrawn from circulation naturally. When I worked with lots of retail money, I remember the tellers at the bank counting the mounds of cash. Any bill too ragged went into a separate pile and was sent to Ottawa for disposal. it’s a natual part of the cycle. I assume with the new plastic bills, they won’t be redesigning them every few years like they seem to have done recently. Of course, a lot of that was to introduce subtle new anti-counterfeit measures as they became technically feasible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-will-old-uk-banknotes-stay-in-circulation-after-qe2s-death/645515.md?page=1)