# Where does the Scottish Everendum stand? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 1, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026 "2014-12-01T12:53:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 43
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/841 "2015-01-07T17:16:59Z")
Having not had to deal much with exchanging pounds–I bought and sold the pounds in the US and used various Travelex cards and credit cards otherwise–would I really have any difficulty had I received Scottish banknotes? As far as I’m concerned, if I can spend it and reasonably exchange (so bills but not coins) it back into US dollars, it’s all the same to me. The distinction of legal tender is meaningless if agreed upon otherwise by the two parties. And wouldn’t a simpler solution just be to give up on the whole current system and let the Bank of England (or a newly created Bank of Britain) be a true central bank? ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/842 "2015-01-07T17:34:21Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Having not had to deal much with exchanging pounds–I bought and sold the pounds in the US and used various Travelex cards and credit cards otherwise–would I really have any difficulty had I received Scottish banknotes? As far as I’m concerned, if I can spend it and reasonably exchange (so bills but not coins) it back into US dollars, it’s all the same to me. The distinction of legal tender is meaningless if agreed upon otherwise by the two parties. > > And wouldn’t a simpler solution just be to give up on the whole current system and let the Bank of England (or a newly created Bank of Britain) be a true central bank? Getting Scottish pounds accepted in shops away from the motorway aytstem is hard enough. Few money changers in Europe will change Scottish pounds, and sometimes give a poorer rate of exchange. Even foreign banks can be difficult. One of the last things I do when going abroad is to draw a couple of hundred pounds in English as emergency money, knowing it is more universally accepted. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/843 "2015-01-07T17:41:58Z")
Then why not just give up on the whole idea? Have one central bank issue one currency and be done with it. Or is this something we can expect to occur, say, 200 years after other countries do it, like decimalization? ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/844 "2015-01-07T18:19:11Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > Despite the desperate nick picks above it is pretty obvious that Steopan is anglocentric on many occasions, choosing to believe that the state of affairs in England are the state of affairs in Britain as a whole, No, I believe the state of affairs in England is the state of affairs in the majority of Britain. Most of them apply to 3/4 of the constituents of the Union, and some - such as the Church Of England being part of the Government, or using Sterling, to all of them. Yes, many things are different in Scotland. Your mistake is to think that matters when referring to Britain as a whole. 90% of criminal courts in Britain, for example, have 12-person juries. No amount of difference in Scotland can change that. Nothing “anglocentric” about it. On the contrary, you are giving Scotland more prominence than it’s due, and ignoring all the times that the majority of the UK, both by size and by amount of constituent parts, differs from it. ---
**Author:** ![Jakeohara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@Jakeohara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jakeohara)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/845 "2015-01-07T18:46:09Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > Few money changers in Europe will change Scottish pounds, and sometimes give a poorer rate of exchange. Cites that money changers pay a lesser rate of exchange for Scottish produced bank notes? Or just anecdotes, which I’m sure will feature in abundance. (Long time lurker, first time poster, been following this thread for a while but the quoted text made me immediately go “WTF”) ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/846 "2015-01-07T19:25:45Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Then why not just give up on the whole idea? Have one central bank issue one currency and be done with it. Or is this something we can expect to occur, say, 200 years after other countries do it, like decimalization? Because Scotland has a strong national identity and has never used English notes generally in modern times. Any attempt to take this away would be seen as a threat to Scottish pride. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/847 "2015-01-07T19:27:28Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > No, I believe the state of affairs in England is the state of affairs in the majority of Britain. Most of them apply to 3/4 of the constituents of the Union, and some - such as the Church Of England being part of the Government, or using Sterling, to all of them. > > Yes, many things are different in Scotland. Your mistake is to think that matters when referring to Britain as a whole. 90% of criminal courts in Britain, for example, have 12-person juries. No amount of difference in Scotland can change that. > > Nothing “anglocentric” about it. On the contrary, you are giving Scotland more prominence than it’s due, and ignoring all the times that the majority of the UK, both by size and by amount of constituent parts, differs from it. Thank you for so clearly displaying your anglocentrism. Could not have done better myself. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/848 "2015-01-07T19:30:24Z")
> [@Jakeohara](#): > > Cites that money changers pay a lesser rate of exchange for Scottish produced bank notes? Or just anecdotes, which I’m sure will feature in abundance. > > (Long time lurker, first time poster, been following this thread for a while but the quoted text made me immediately go “WTF”) I have been offered a ten percent surcharge. Most often they will not take them as they have to be banked rather than resold. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/849 "2015-01-07T19:31:57Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > Thank you for so clearly displaying your anglocentrism. Could not have done better myself. I didn’t once refer to England in my post, and only used the word in reference to a part of the UK government - that governs all the UK, including Wales, NI, and Scotland. Anyone from Wales or NI could have posted exactly what I did. There is, quite literally, nothing Anglocentric about my post, or my views. It’s just another occasion you are using the word as an insult, something you’ve been asked not to do. Also, learn to capitalise. There’s no need to disrespect my country. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/850 "2015-01-07T19:32:18Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > Getting Scottish pounds accepted in shops away from the motorway aytstem is hard enough. Few money changers in Europe will change Scottish pounds, and sometimes give a poorer rate of exchange. Even foreign banks can be difficult. One of the last things I do when going abroad is to draw a couple of hundred pounds in English as emergency money, knowing it is more universally accepted. For what its worth, I used to get the all the time when I was younger as presents from family. Never had an issue using them in England. Maybe I just have a trustworthy face. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/851 "2015-01-07T19:34:21Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Ha ha, believe it or not I had a few dealings with him as well… Odd bloke, to put it mildly. He didn’t like it much when I was one of the founder members of a breakaway forum from World Of Stuart when he decided to try charging for it. > > It does seem odd to me that these people who seem to spend so much time and energy thinking about England, how much they hate England, what England has supposedly done to them, and so forth, refer to _others_ as Anglocentric. Which one was that one? To be honest, when he was on other forums and could be warned, like Edge or RLLMUK, he was a pretty good poster. On his own forum he was a nightmare though. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/852 "2015-01-07T19:43:05Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > I didn’t once refer to England in my post, and only used the word in reference to a part of the UK government - that governs all the UK, including Wales, NI, and Scotland. > > Anyone from Wales or NI could have posted exactly what I did. There is, quite literally, nothing Anglocentric about my post, or my views. It’s just another occasion you are using the word as an insult, something you’ve been asked not to do. > > Also, learn to capitalise. There’s no need to disrespect my country. Thank you for so clearly illustrating the unconscious drive behind such a mind set. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/853 "2015-01-07T19:45:32Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > For what its worth, I used to get the all the time when I was younger as presents from family. Never had an issue using them in England. Maybe I just have a trustworthy face. The further from the motorway system and large cities you are, the more trouble you get. Though managers often sort it out. It is not surprising there is resistance because the different banks issue completely different designs of banknotes. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/854 "2015-01-07T20:01:10Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > It is difficult for someone who is narrow minded and English to understand how much conflation there is in the English mind set. "Your “narrow minded and English” crack is a deliberate insult as well as a violation of the spirit of my earlier admonition to refrain from that sort deliberate attempt to rile up your opponents. This is a Warning to refrain from any more of these insults. = = = Pjen and Steophan, your sidebar feud as to who does or does not know enough about Britain _vs_ Scotland really has nothing to do with the actual point of this thread. Both of you knock it off. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/855 "2015-01-07T23:37:43Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > The further from the motorway system and large cities you are, the more trouble you get. Though managers often sort it out. It is not surprising there is resistance because the different banks issue completely different designs of banknotes. I grew up in a town of 20,000 people in Warwickshire, a county that has absolutely no cities. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/856 "2015-01-08T00:24:48Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Which one was that one? To be honest, when he was on other forums and could be warned, like Edge or RLLMUK, he was a pretty good poster. On his own forum he was a nightmare though. BETEO. I wasn’t there for very long, due to a rather unpleasant real-life falling out with another member, and by the time that was sorted out I’d rather lost interest. It’s a shame really, there were some good people and good discussions there and on WOS. ---
**Author:** ![Jakeohara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@Jakeohara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jakeohara)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/857 "2015-01-08T05:46:32Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > I have been offered a ten percent surcharge. Most often they will not take them as they have to be banked rather than resold. Cites 0 - Anecdotes 1. So basically, no evidence that money changers offer a lesser rate of exchange for Scottish money. I think a lot of what Pjen has been saying about Scotland/England/UK is of similar veracity. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/858 "2015-01-08T07:35:14Z")
> [@Jakeohara](#): > > Cites 0 - Anecdotes 1. > > So basically, no evidence that money changers offer a lesser rate of exchange for Scottish money. I think a lot of what Pjen has been saying about Scotland/England/UK is of similar veracity. How can you have a cite for personal experience. Scottish notes are refused in England regularly and are almost impossible to exchange I small unchanged abroad. It costs the changes more in the same way that they do not change coin. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/859 "2015-01-08T07:45:47Z")
Cite for Scottish Pounds being not easily exchangeable abroad “Exchange offices, banks and bureaux de change outside the UK will not exchange Bank of Scotland notes.” > **[Exchange Scottish Pounds in 3 easy steps - Leftover Currency](https://www.leftovercurrency.com/exchange/scottish-pounds/)** > > Receive cash for your leftover Scottish Pounds. Get paid within 5 working days. Best rates for your old currency, coins and banknotes This is stronger than I would claim as some will especially in areas where there have been many Scottish tourists on packages. If there is reluctance to take notes you can predict that some will offer to do so at a discount. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026/860 "2015-01-08T07:59:00Z")
A cite for discount rates on the Scottish pound “10.If you exchange Scottish notes abroad, you will probably get a poorer exchange rate than for Bank of England notes.” > **[Did You Know? - How to Cope With Scottish Money](http://www.rampantscotland.com/know/blknow_money.htm)** > > Did You Know? A simple How to on how to cope with Scottish money And another "Exchange rate for Scottish pound less than English in Krakow 29 July 2011, 17:57 Hi folks, I have taken some British money with me as an emergency back up in case my Polish zloty was getting low. Looking at the exchange rates for GBP at the Kantors in ul. Florianska, they are hovering around 4.5 to 4.6 zl to the pound, GREAT, better than back home. Not so great. Why? Two places only offered 3zl to the pound because the notes were from a Scottish bank. Another refused to deal with them. When I asked why, the person pointed to the Union Jack and said calmly, “We only deal with this money.” GRRRRR! Perhaps they should change the Union Jack emblem in the display to the flag of St. George?" I am quite happy to accept a fulsome apology from Jakeohara for their abusive comment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026.md?page=42) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-scottish-everendum-stand/706026.md?page=44)