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Cash is not always legal tender. (For example Scottish cash is not legal tender, it’s just accepted by convention.) and anyway ‘legal tender’ doesn’t mean a business has to trade with you if they don’t want to unless they’re settling a debt in court.

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I had the exact same experience at the Delta counter in Atlanta. A Frenchman was having trouble understanding that he couldn't pay cash to check his bag. We paid for him (Amex reimburses us for Delta fees so we didn't take his cash) but otherwise he wouldn't have been able to fly.

Previously, I had always believed that in the US it was a law that places had to accept cash.

A number of years ago now, I had some RBS notes in my wallet and a young clerk in a London store told me she couldn't take them. (Her manager quickly came over and corrected her.) I did also have to get some older English paper notes exchanged at a bank for newer plastic ones.

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