£50 Notes To Be Taken Out Of Circulation

[evetsm]

There is a big difference between real cash money, the stuff you can hold in your hands that say the words 'promise to pay the bearer on demand' to on screen digital money......I am sure there are people on here that can explain the difference.

promise to pay the bearer what, exactly? gold? not likely, you'll get nothing. they'll laugh at you if you rocked up at your bank with your fifty asking for payment. Maybe they'll give you a sack of feathers if it's April 1

[winkie]

promise to pay the bearer what, exactly? gold? not likely, you'll get nothing. they'll laugh at you if you rocked up at your bank with your fifty asking for payment. Maybe they'll give you a sack of feathers if it's April 1

Promise to pay whatever the value of the pound is at the time........figure on a screen now you see it, then you don't?

[jamie77]

the bank's position has changed, they are stopping the 50s. That's a huge story, given they have also talked about eliminating cash.

where have you been?

No it hasn't. The article says:

"Carney said: "There are no immediate plans for the £50 note.

"The feedback is that the notes need to be smaller, different sizes, but smaller.

"A decision will be made in due course."

A Bank of England spokesman said that as the last £50 note was introduced in 2011, a decision is yet to made about whether there will be a polymer version.

This is exactly what I read on the BoE website last year.

[evetsm]

02

02

Promise to pay whatever the value of the pound is at the time........figure on a screen now you see it, then you don't?

yes, ask for payment for your fifty, and there'll be a long pause and they'll hand over..... a fifty! or two twenties and a ten. etc

remember what fractional reserve banking started out as, it was IOU notes issued instead of physical gold held in the vault. the note represented physical gold and was a claim on gold, and the bearer of the note could go to the bank and redeem it for the actual gold. that was the promise written on the note. Now there's nothing backing these notes, nothing to redeem. They are backed by govt ability to tax in those same notes and the force the govt police can bring to bear to mandate it. This is underpinned by laws that were issued by decree called legal tender laws, granting monopoly to banks to create this magic out of thin air and collect interest thereon.

nice scam if you can get it.

Edited June 3, 2016 by evetsm

[renting til I die]

I haven't used a £50 note for years, but was expecting them to come into more common use with inflation.

Do you use £50's much? Does anybody here? And if so what for?

I was thinking this for a while and even more the other day when the ATM gave me £300 in £10s! Seems the BoE doesn't believe inflation will be coming back any time soon.

Well, we can't be making it easy for people to hold large amounts of their wealth as cash outside the banking system and with no oversight or control from the proper authorities now, can we?

Just make sure that the general population has little option but to hold their wealth exclusively as bank credit then get on with negative interest rates and freezing the assets of anyone who makes trouble. Banksters happier and richer, the government happier and more powerful, the population less free than ever (a constant trend over the last few decades).

I keep a few k in £50 and £20, just in case we have a Greece situation and banks limit access to cash.

It's a non-story. The bank's position hasn't changed -they haven't made a decision yet because they only bought out a new £50 recently. The Telegraph is going down hill.

That is true. The £50 is the newest note and also the one that is used the least so not such a pressing need to replace it as often.

[evetsm]

BoE Governor Mark Carney has admitted there are'no immediate plans' to introduce new plastic £50 notes as part of the newcash creation programme.

no plans to introduce a new plastic 50, sounds to me like a withdrawal by attrition.

[reddog]

Only ever saw a £50 when working in shops and restaurants, and you were forced to get a colleague to verify it was real. When I wanted to get a large amount of cash from the bank once I was told if I wanted it in £50s, it would be a special order.

To be honest £50 is hardly a great deal of money, the fact that the nanny state says we (potentially) can't have them, says a lot about the world we live in.

I am hoping Switzerland will introduce the 5000er!

http://www.thelocal.ch/20160218/zug-mps-call-for-new-5000-franc-banknotes

Edited June 3, 2016 by reddog

[Motor_Blade]

I run an independent shop & very rarely see them (typically 5-10 a year) - and the first thing anyone intending to use one says is something along the lines of "will you accept a 50?". They appear to be as popular as a fart in an astronaut suit with most retailers, which probably explains why £20 notes are the forgers' choice these days. Never seen a forged £50, but have intercepted a good few £20s - every note my business receives goes under the note checker.

[Sour Mash]

Isn't paper money "pretend" also....

Paper money is a promise by the government to pay you .... more paper money (or I guess, pound coins). It only has value because the government declare it has value (and force you to pay taxes, fees and fines using it as well as passing laws forcing creditors to accept it where there is a debt to be repaid). If they have to, the government will just print more money to meet their debts.

Bank credit is a bank's promise to pay you in aforementioned paper money. The difference here is that the banks can't actually create the legal tender paper money themselves and could theoretically become bankrupt, leaving you as an unpaid creditor.

[Sour Mash]

why would anyone want to keep an inflating piece of paper under their mattress, which could be outlawed by decree at any moment?

get some bitcoins or gold and then you have some real money.

The thing is that 'money' (cash, bank credit) is the only thing that is universally exchangeable for goods and services - you'll have to convert those bitcoin or that gold to cash/bank credit before you can use it to purchase most items. And the exchange rate for bitcoin or gold to money is varying all the time - especially bitcoin - whereas the value of money, at least for the moment, remains pretty constant.

[South Lorne]

Big story which has been picked up by the telegraph with little fanfare. The new issue of bank notes will not include the fifty.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/02/plastic-5-notes-featuring-sir-winston-churchill-that-are-unteara/

In my opinion this is massive. Continuing a trend to undermine cash, people's financial privacy and further entrench low/negative interest rates.

...used by money launderers ....good move....

[Roman Roady]

At Xmas I asked my UK bank what was the max amount I could withdraw in one day...answer £1500, so I did in 50's! (the young lady at the desk got very chatty at that point wanting to know where I worked and what I did but, thats a different story).

I had great fun spending that lot...only just finished them off in April.

They cause a lot of concern in the shops, if you want to see the manager use one of these...50 whole pounds in one shot...who'd have thought eh?

This tells me that folks arent that used to seeing them....gives me an idea that regardless of what the VIs tell me, there isnt that much cash around in the UK.

Now the Swiss do not even bat an eyelid at the sight of a CHF1000 note (roughly £680).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Swiss_franc

Now thats a note!

I once bought a car with a bunch of those.

I used to use the 200 and 500 all of the time over there, not so much as a blink when they are handed over the counter.

[reddog]

(the young lady at the desk got very chatty at that point wanting to know where I worked and what I did but, thats a different story).

funnily enough I had this when I withdrew a large amount of cash (HSBC) asked in s very friendly way what I was going to spend to he cash on.

[Bruce Banner]

It's strange that £50 notes are such a big deal, I always ask for them at the bank counter but they are not available in cash machines. Spending them is always a laugh though, 10 x 20s and no one bats an eyelid, 2 x 50s and out come the special pens, store manager etc.

In France I mostly carry €50 notes and occasionally €100 notes, no one bats an eyelid at either although signs saying €500 notes not accepted are becoming more common.

We should all carry cash. Use it or lose it.

[olde guto]

Well if history is anything to go by the £50 which came into circulation in 2011 will cease to be legal tender in 2031 with any replacement announced in about a decade from now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_England_%C2%A350_note

The £50 is a handy note to have as shops are very cautious about taking them so I've got few safely stashed away in case of an emergency knowing full well I won't be tempted to spend them down the pub.

[Blod]

Years ago when I was involved in retail we had staff check every fifty. Naturally it was the twenties that caused losses. However I would say that for every forged twenty the outlet must have passed thousands of dude pound coins. Once shown how to detect fake pound coins I am constantly amazed at how little fuss the issue causes.

If cash was withdraw how could you prevent the rise of Bitcoin? I hardly think that CBs would sit back without a way of preventing wider spread use of cryptocurrencies. Doing away totally with physical fiat would be difficult, the lack of rural connectivity would prevent this currently.

[anonguest]

funnily enough I had this when I withdrew a large amount of cash (HSBC) asked in s very friendly way what I was going to spend to he cash on.

It seems to be standard practice. I can't tell if it is out of genuine curiousity, because they see so few large cash withdrawals and themselves personally cannot imagine why anyone would need so much cash, or because it is part of formal job requirements.

On one occasion, early on, I did ask and say that I understood that they had to query large deposits but that withdrawals were, surely, my own business. The answer was that "we just always ask about large amounts of cash". I then respond along the lines that "£1000 is hardly a lot of cash these days? I mean how far will it get you?....". Waste of time really. They're just desk robots.

My favourite answer is to tell them I have been diagnosed with terminal cancer and it will be going on fast cars and hot women. Always gets a sympathetic response. The incredulous response comes when I make a second withdrawal just a few days later with a deliberately mischeivous large grin and the same person serves you and remembers.

Certainly they are obliged to query, not necessarily as far as to the point of formally noting/recording, the origins of any large cash deposit (e.g. over £1000). If you were routinely depositing large amounts of cash and they knew, for example, you were not a local retailer then your account will likely be 'flagged'

[anonguest]

promise to pay the bearer what, exactly? gold? not likely, you'll get nothing. they'll laugh at you if you rocked up at your bank with your fifty asking for payment. Maybe they'll give you a sack of feathers if it's April 1

Good point. I recently went to the bank of england to exchange some obsolete notes a foreign friend had from her last visit to the UK nearly 20 years ago, and still had. Exchanging for the current version of the notes was easy.

I might just do it for a laugh if I am ever in the vicinity. Pop in present a £50 note and demand my payment......

[anonguest]

I was thinking this for a while and even more the other day when the ATM gave me £300 in £10s! Seems the BoE doesn't believe inflation will be coming back any time soon.

I keep a few k in £50 and £20, just in case we have a Greece situation and banks limit access to cash.

That is true. The £50 is the newest note and also the one that is used the least so not such a pressing need to replace it as often.

Personally I would have thought that if the purpose for stockpiling is for a Greece type situation then large denomination notes are the last you will want?

Firstly no one will have money themselves to give you change!

Secondly the purchasing power for those with cash will rise notably? You'll get notably more with a fiver than you would today?

In such a situation a stockpile of fivers and few tenners, and good supply of £1 and £2 coins, is better?

Edited June 4, 2016 by anonguest

[Bruce Banner]

It seems to be standard practice. I can't tell if it is out of genuine curiousity, because they see so few large cash withdrawals and themselves personally cannot imagine why anyone would need so much cash, or because it is part of formal job requirements.

On one occasion, early on, I did ask and say that I understood that they had to query large deposits but that withdrawals were, surely, my own business. The answer was that "we just always ask about large amounts of cash". I then respond along the lines that "£1000 is hardly a lot of cash these days? I mean how far will it get you?....". Waste of time really. They're just desk robots.

My favourite answer is to tell them I have been diagnosed with terminal cancer and it will be going on fast cars and hot women. Always gets a sympathetic response. The incredulous response comes when I make a second withdrawal just a few days later with a deliberately mischeivous large grin and the same person serves you and remembers.

Certainly they are obliged to query, not necessarily as far as to the point of formally noting/recording, the origins of any large cash deposit (e.g. over £1000). If you were routinely depositing large amounts of cash and they knew, for example, you were not a local retailer then your account will likely be 'flagged'

They always ask what it's for.

I usually say something like "I like to have some cash, in case the banks get into trouble again".

My wife invariably says "None of your business".

Both get entered onto your file.

[renting til I die]

Personally I would have thought that if the purpose for stockpiling is for a Greece type situation then large denomination notes are the last you will want?

Firstly no one will have money themselves to give you change!

Secondly the purchasing power for those with cash will rise notably? You'll get notably more with a fiver than you would today?

In such a situation a stockpile of fivers and few tenners, and good supply of £1 and £2 coins, is better?

Good point, guess it depends on what you are buying. Anyway, I'm way ahead of you, as I do have a stockpile of £2s but the £10 and £5s I've spend down because of the new ones coming! Going to have to start spending the £20s soon.

[anonguest]

Good point, guess it depends on what you are buying. Anyway, I'm way ahead of you, as I do have a stockpile of £2s but the £10 and £5s I've spend down because of the new ones coming! Going to have to start spending the £20s soon.

I'm not saying not to keep lots of 20's and 50's. But I suspect that they will be more useful to make bargain of a lifetime purchases from distressed/forced sellers of large items (e.g. cars, etc).

Although......if I recall correctly even this opportunity may not arise? Since, in Greece, transacting large sums from one person to the other was not prevented, but rather merely obtaining large amounts of cash. Thus even the example I give may not even apply, since you would still be able to pay £xxxxxx to a seller by online transfer?

Of course the general mood/psychology of the puclic in such a scenario may well have become sufficiently pessimistic such that discretionary consumer spending falls so much as to make it harder for a seller of high worth items to sell them - and so good old cash may well have that crucial bargaining power. Seems to have always worked for me in the past when, say, buying a car. Can't beat the effect of dumping a wad of 50's on the table in front of the seller, that is less than the asking price, to see them fold.

But for day to day living/shopping then fivers should certainly benefit - if only because you'd be able to buy more than the person next to you.

Of course IF the situation became Greece but with mega inflation then the cash will be worthless very quickly - and gold sovereigns will be better?

This latter scenario could play out here? Greece, for all its woes, still uses the Euro. Thus goods there are worth pretty much what the same goods are in, say, Italy or France?

But here, with our own currency, if the country went all Greece on us then the currency will likely take a hammering?

Edited June 4, 2016 by anonguest

[SpectrumFX]

It seems to be standard practice. I can't tell if it is out of genuine curiousity, because they see so few large cash withdrawals and themselves personally cannot imagine why anyone would need so much cash, or because it is part of formal job requirements.

On one occasion, early on, I did ask and say that I understood that they had to query large deposits but that withdrawals were, surely, my own business. The answer was that "we just always ask about large amounts of cash". I then respond along the lines that "£1000 is hardly a lot of cash these days? I mean how far will it get you?....". Waste of time really. They're just desk robots.

My favourite answer is to tell them I have been diagnosed with terminal cancer and it will be going on fast cars and hot women. Always gets a sympathetic response. The incredulous response comes when I make a second withdrawal just a few days later with a deliberately mischeivous large grin and the same person serves you and remembers.

Certainly they are obliged to query, not necessarily as far as to the point of formally noting/recording, the origins of any large cash deposit (e.g. over £1000). If you were routinely depositing large amounts of cash and they knew, for example, you were not a local retailer then your account will likely be 'flagged'

There are lots of charges on business accounts that you don't get on personal accounts, so they'll be on the lookout for people using personal accounts for running a business.

[anonguest]

There are lots of charges on business accounts that you don't get on personal accounts, so they'll be on the lookout for people using personal accounts for running a business.

Ahh, good point. Never thought of that.

[CentrinoDuo]

Regarding having loads of cash in your person. Surely the risk of getting robbed/burgled is much higher than you're losing money due to bank collapse (in the UK) since the first £85k is protected.

I don't like carrying cash or storing cash at home, never did and don't think will change. My wallet has been nicked once in Valencia and I've been mugged once in London. On both occasions I lost more money on the wallets themselves than the cash in the wallet.

I'm not advocating the end of cash, there are still good reasons to carry cash but really not a big deal if the £50 ever get whacked. I see cash is good for small incidentals spending or travelling in countries where ATM network is dire or card payments is rarely accepted due to high incident of fraud.

... Or paying for something that you don't want your other half to know open for your own interpretation.