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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
“10.If you exchange Scottish notes abroad, you will probably get a poorer exchange rate than for Bank of England notes.”
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.