Bruce Fletcher (Stronsay, Orkney) wrote:

I find it useful (and frightening) to convert from decimal currency
back to old-fashioned pounds, shillings and pence; a small bar of
chocolate now costs twelve shillings (60p).

Surely such conversions have very little use? Unless, of course, you're
also converting your modern day wages into shillings.

--
Simon

Brighton
ex-Westbury, ex-Aberystwyth

Charles Ellson wrote:

ITYF the USD is a universal black-market currency in countries where
the economy has gone tits-up, possibly accompanied to a lesser degree
by Sterling and Euros or any more local "trusted" foreign currency.

I was under the impression that the Euro is beginning to usurp the dollar
as currency of choice. Partly because of the state of the dollar value
and partly because the Euro has a ?500 note.

--
Simon

Brighton
ex-Westbury, ex-Aberystwyth

sweller wrote:
Bruce Fletcher (Stronsay, Orkney) wrote:

I find it useful (and frightening) to convert from decimal currency
back to old-fashioned pounds, shillings and pence; a small bar of
chocolate now costs twelve shillings (60p).

Surely such conversions have very little use? Unless, of course, you're
also converting your modern day wages into shillings.


That's exactly what I do from time to time.
Bruce

"Charles Ellson" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:46:33 +0100, wrote:

ITYF the USD is a universal black-market currency in countries where
the economy has gone tits-up, possibly accompanied to a lesser degree
by Sterling and Euros or any more local "trusted" foreign currency.

Euros yes, but I do not think that sterling would be a universal
black-market currency.

I would also expect that rands would be the hard currency of choice in
southern Africa, as a substantial part of the Zimbabwean population is in
South Africa.

"Tim Roll-Pickering" wrote in message
...
wrote:

If the notes are from Scotland and bear the word sterling then they are
legal tender and I believe that retailers have to accept them. I have not
had a problem receiving Scottish notes or paying with them, beyond the
occasional odd look.

I have, however, had problems with Northern Irish notes - even from places
that don't give Scottish notes a second glance!

Is that because there was that big bank heist aboiut 3 1/2 years ago? I
remember seeing signs in pubs months afterwards that Northern Irish notes
would not be accepted.

In uk.railway wrote:
It seems that people and businesses feel a bit uneasy about the 500-euro
note, as if it has some sort of stigma attached to it.

500 (and 200) Euro notes are a denomination that is high enough to not
occur in "normal" everyday trade in most shops, so it is quite common
especially for small shops (e.g. newspaper stands and the like) to not
accept them. This is partly in fear of running out of change, partly in
fear of not noting counterfeited bills.

I notice that in Amsterdam, GVB does not accept 50-euro notes.

I think the 50 Euro note is the most counterfeited one (don't know why,
probably because it is the highest note common enough that many people
don't look that hard if they get one).

Greetings from Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt,

=ToJe=

--
Torsten Jerzembeck * Oberschlesische Str. 61 * D-70374 Stuttgart
Exil-Westfale * PGP: B74DB58D * MIME welcome * Generation Tux

On 20/06/2008 at 22:32:47 (%mail)wrote: in
uk.railway

" Richard Hunt" wrote in message
...


The 500 euro note seems to have been designed for wealthy Germans to
transport undeclared cash to and from their Luxembourg bank
accounts.


Luxembourg or Liechtenstein?

Both probably, but I gave seen on German tv reports about mobile /Zoll/
(customs) patrols pulling over vehicles near the Luxembourg border and
confiscating large amounts of euros and bearer bonds hidden in cars not
registered in the area. Even, in one case, 30,000 euro stashed *inside*
the spare tyre.

Richard Hunt

--

When returning from an overseas tour with the RAF in the 1960s it was
quite common to find that the final pay parade prior to returning to the
UK resulted in a handful of notes from the British Linen Bank, the
Clydesdale Bank and sundry other obscure but perfectly legal outfits.
The buffet bar on Swindon station (first port of call after RAF Lyneham)
was remarkably knowledgeable in such financial matters.
Bruce

Similarly, I work in one of the main offices of a bank with head
offices in England and Scotland, and the canteen are used to getting
Scottish notes from visiting dignitaries who've come down from Glasgow
for the day- they just keep them to one side for the bank to clear
internally. The opposite effect was noted a couple of years ago on an
Inverness-Kings Cross HST south of Newcastle, where (it being a
Sunday) the only notes in the float on the catering trolley were
Scottish.

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 02:23:10 +0100, "Tim Roll-Pickering"
wrote:

wrote:

If the notes are from Scotland and bear the word sterling then they are
legal tender and I believe that retailers have to accept them. I have not
had a problem receiving Scottish notes or paying with them, beyond the
occasional odd look.

I have, however, had problems with Northern Irish notes - even from places
that don't give Scottish notes a second glance!

Not surprising, since NI notes are much, much rarer in England than
Scottish notes. I occasionally see a Scottish note from a customer,
but have never yet seen an NI one.

On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:14:36 +0200, Andrew Price
wrote:

Wouldn't it have been easier to pay with a credit card, or even a
cheque?

This is often a difference between the UK and mainland Europe where
credit cards are used a lot less. I can't even imagine a situation,
other than perhaps buying a car privately[1], where I might consider
dealing with that amount of cash. I'd pay by credit or debit card.

[1] Actually, I once paid £7000 odd for a car from a dealership on a
debit card. It just felt far too easy - just enter your PIN... (I did
have to notify my bank beforehand to prevent it being flagged as
suspicious, but other than that it was fine)

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.