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I'm in the UK and I have friends who will tell you hand on heart that they have never handled a £50 note. They know they exist but they haven't had one.

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That's completely unrelated to the popularity of card payments though. It's a denomination that's never given out as change or by ATMs

which as well as explaining the background to the note and debates over whether it should be taken out of circulation also points out the context the average British adult was making about 20 cash transactions a month as of 2018 (none of them involving £50 notes)

Is that just because it's an unpopular bill? Most Americans have probably never used a $50 bill either.

Not once in their entire lives?

I'm not even sure if that I knew there was a $50 bill. And that's as an American of 30+ years that uses cash routinely. Multiple times I've cashed checks and gotten it all in 2's, but honestly can't ever remember a $50 bill. I always have at least one $100 bill in my wallet and don't ever recall getting a $50 in change, has to be the least common note. But now I'm thinking waaaaay back and does the President on it have a big mustache? Time to see what a $50 looks like.

Well, I suspect the notes larger than $100 (which are no longer being printed!) are even rarer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_five-hundred-dol...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_one-thousand-dol...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_five-thousand-do...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_ten-thousand-dol...

It would be a "unique" situation. Most AMTs (not all, but most) only dispense $20 bills, the rarer ones will dispense $5s or $10s, and they're rare enough that I make a note of them. I have never encountered an ATM that gives a $50.

Your best bet of happening into a $50 is if you go to a bank for an in-person withdraw and they ask you for preferred denominations. Generally the money is dispensed in $20s even there unless specified.

Your second best bet would be if you're selling something "on the side" and the purchaser uses a $50 in a transaction, which I would say is also rare these days, most people use Venmo or equiv.

Your best bet of handling a $50 is probably as a bartender, or of course as a bank teller.

I have held $50s a few times in my life, and even my reaction is "huh, a $50, don't see those often"

Huh, the Wells Fargo ATMs here in San Francisco actively offer me $50 bills on a regular basis! I wonder how much this various by bank, by region, or by ATM manufacturer.

In San Francisco, $50 is the new $20

Someone receiving cash from tourists (tourist city restaurant or attraction) would probably see $50 and $100 bills very often.

Nowadays that's less common from tourists from Europe, but tourists from Asia are still likely to bring cash.

I would very much disagree with the latter assertion. I work as a cashier, and I get 50s and 100s _all the time_. I wish they'd stop because it drains my till very fast. Lol.

> Is that just because it's an unpopular bill?

Let me introduce you to a $2 note.

This used to be true, but the last few years I’ve noticed many more ATMs and even people handing out $50 bills.

They are effectively becoming the new $20 with inflation continuing upwards, and I expect their popularity to continue to increase.

Is that really true? I've had more than a few $50 bills (and I've never sought any out).

I've never handled a £50 note. (I am young enough that if you gave me £1 for every year I've never handled one, I wouldn't be able to afford one. But I am old enough that I could dip into my lifetime of savings to make up the difference.)

A friend's dad showed me one when I was at school - that's it. He seemed amused I hadn't seen one before, then after making a minor show of it, as if it was some precious, rare item, said he'd never previously seen one either. They've been uncommon my whole life, and apparently could/can be difficult to actually use, shop assistants being unfamiliar with them and not confident in their legitimacy.

I expect today most people would use bank transfers for the sort of sum where the sheer number of notes would make a £50 one useful.

I saw them every day when I worked in central London. The shop staff were no more discerning than with smaller notes.

But when the bill is £45, there's no problem anyway.

There was an ATM near Spitalfields that used to dispense £50 notes, so I had a small stack of them.

I felt like I was very cool considering how rare they are.

How the other half live! They were always uncommon up North.

(Maybe they're a bit easier to get hold of now, especially with recent inflation? But I don't use cash as much as I did when I was younger.)

And if you do get one somehow, it's really hard to spend. Many places won't accept them.

I use them regularly and have never had anyone not accept them.

I have had many places reject $100 bills though.

I’m that weirdo that tries to pay cash for most everything, so sample size is large and across a diverse set of businesses.

Due to what I tend to pay cash for these days (lunches, drinks with a friend, etc.) and prices being what they are, they are rapidly becoming my “go-to” denomination.

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