Why has the £50 note never been updated?

spirit said:
canary wharf cash machines do.

ive never had a £50 declined, i think it might be illegal to do so (so long as its for a reasonable amount ie not using a 50 to get a 80p bus ride or something).. but then again i guess stamps are also legal tender - not sure how that works now that 1st class no longer have values on them :D
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TBH i use a lot of 50's in this kind of way purely to break them down due to the lack of acceptance in a lot of places. Always try a 50 first, then if they dont like it use a 20 which ive had in change elsewhere.
 
My aunt was complaining to me the other day that my uncle deals in lots of £50's and a lot of shops refuse to take them!

I had trouble paying for some milk in my local corner shop with a Scottish £5 note a while ago :rolleyes:
 
I might get one of these £100 notes from somewhere, take it into a packed bar on a saturday night, order a round whilst half cut and then hand over the £100 and see what happens.
 
Bullseyes? couldn't live without them:p

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I've never had a fake fifty so perhaps forgers don't really bother with them as everyone checks them when they get them:)
 
Slightly off topic here, but this relates to the refusal to accept certain notes. Am I right in thinking that if you have a bill lto pay (lets say £1000) and turned up to pay it in 5 pence pieces it cant be refused as its a "coin of the realm" thing?
 
Swordfish said:
Slightly off topic here, but this relates to the refusal to accept certain notes. Am I right in thinking that if you have a bill lto pay (lets say £1000) and turned up to pay it in 5 pence pieces it cant be refused as its a "coin of the realm" thing?
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Nope, 5 and 10ps are only legal tender up to £5. 20 and 50p up to £10, and 1 and 2p only to 20p. You could pay in £1 or £2 coins though. Scottish notes aren't legal tender anywhere, including scotland.
 
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Swordfish said:
Slightly off topic here, but this relates to the refusal to accept certain notes. Am I right in thinking that if you have a bill lto pay (lets say £1000) and turned up to pay it in 5 pence pieces it cant be refused as its a "coin of the realm" thing?
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Yeah. You're in your right to refuse certain amounts of certain coins, etc. IIRC it's something like £5 for 2p, etc.
 
Swordfish said:
Slightly off topic here, but this relates to the refusal to accept certain notes. Am I right in thinking that if you have a bill lto pay (lets say £1000) and turned up to pay it in 5 pence pieces it cant be refused as its a "coin of the realm" thing?
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there are boundaries that define "legal tender" as far as paying for large sums in small denominations is concerned.

lemme look on the Royal mint webbie. i'm pretty sure its there.
 
Mate at work paid the butty van man with a £50 note last week... For a £2.20 sandwich.
His eyes went about as big as his frying eggs LOL I think he cleaned out his whole change stash. :D
 
Rich_L said:
I imagine it's because most £50 notes are obtained from banks, and then generally paid in pretty soon afterwards, rather than entering general circulation - so any fraud is very quickly noticed by the bank checking, as opposed to £20s which will just be used for normal expenditure :)
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This is how I see it

Scottish Bank said:
Scottish Banknotes are legal currency – i.e. they are approved by the UK Parliament. However, Scottish banknotes are not legal tender, not even in Scotland. Interestingly, no notes from any bank - including the Bank of England – are legal tender in Scotland. Only the £1 and £2 coins are legal tender there. HM Treasury determine which notes are legal tender.
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I dont understand this - if the notes are not legal tender then how can they be spent?
 
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