British friends - help, please?

[wiseheart]

I desperately need a piece of info - have you changed your money lately? Mum and I have had some British money left from our last visit to Cambridge (altariel and the_wild_iris might remember the events), but since it won't be enough for our trip in August, we decided to change some more.

Now the twenty-pound note we got is different from the ones we had from last time. Not much, but it's different. So, is the older version still valid, and if not, will the bank exchange it for the new one? Because if they don't, then we're in serious trouble.

So - info, please? Pretty please? Mum is seriously panicking (this is a lot of money for us), and I'm getting nervous as a result, too.

Comments

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

The notes featuring Edward Elgar are no longer current (they were withdrawn last June), and you wouldn't be able to spend them in shops. The current one features Adam Smith.

However, withdrawn notes never lose their value, but it becomes more difficult to exchange them. Once the initial period has passed, of all banks accepting them for exchange, you can still present them to the Bank of England for exchange. I don't know whether your bank there would be willing to exchange them - you'd have to ask.

If your local bank won't accept the Edward Elgar notes, then e-mail me ( glitterboy1@gmail.com ), and we'll sort something out.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much - that was exactly what I feared. We have indeed the Edward Elgar notes, plus a few ten-pound notes featuring Charles Dickens - I assume those have been changed, too? That would mean I've got money worth a month's salary that I can't use. Which means, of course, that my salary is ridiculously small, but still. *sighs*

Thank you so much for the help. I'll have Mum enquire by the local bank (she's retired, she has the time), and hope they will be willing to exchange them. If they're not, I'll e-mail you.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

The Charles Dickens £10 notes seem to have been withdrawn in 2003; the current one features Charles Darwin.

Fingers crossed about the local bank!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I meant Darwin - he's the old man with the really big beard, right? I'm just being a nervous wreck about the whole thing.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Hee, yes, the really big beard. :-)

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

The Charles Dickens £10 notes are the current ones (for some reason notes here change one at a time, not the whole set at once). I'm not certain, but banks, post offices and building societies here are allowed to change them (but it is at their discretion)

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Apparently not - sorry for the confusion

Money

[(Anonymous)]

Don't worry, this happened to me before. I had to go to the Bank of England (pretty exciting!) and they changed them without any troubles.

Re: Money

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't worry if I were on my own. But this is a package holiday, with 40something other people and a very tight schedule, so it's not that easy.