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Comment by k-mcgrady | Hacker News Reader

Pretty sure this is completely incorrect. It's sterling just with a slightly different note design including the issuing bank name. It's accepted anywhere sterling is accepted - the only issue I've ever had is that English businesses may not have seen it before and are worried it's fake. Never had any refuse to accept it though.

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I've had Scottish bank notes refused by a taxi driver in London, and he had a letter from the Bank of England claiming he didn't have to take it (a fact that Wikipedia backs up). Though what he gains from antagonising customers I'm not sure.

It's just an issue of national pride.

If the taxi driver doesn't want to accept Scottish bank notes, he doesn't have to. He is not obliged to accept any form of currency, in truth.

Since (presumably) the journey is over, he can insist that I pay my debt in legal tender - but not on the spot: legal tender is for when it reaches court. So, I would tell him that he can take my Scottish money or invoice me.

I get a kick out of giving Northern Ireland notes to businesses over in England and watching them squirm about. You can see serious confusion as they look back and forth between the words "Pounds Sterling" and "Ireland". There's a look of "If i get a manager I'm going to look stupid, but if I don't, I might be in trouble for taking fake money". There is a large number of people in London that aren't quit convinced that Northern Ireland is part of the UK.

I had a guy get so confused one day with a £20 NI note he shorted me £10 on the change. He was apologetic admitting he didn't know what I'd handed him but as a was a regular customer he didn't think I'd give him a fake.

It's the same with Scottish money, except English people tend to openly despise it and will often refuse it even when they're perfectly aware that it's legal tender.

They're historical accidents tbh.

Do you pay into court in Scottish notes a lot?

> Legal tender has a very narrow and technical meaning in the settlement of debts. It means that a debtor cannot successfully be sued for non-payment if he pays into court in legal tender. It does not mean that any ordinary transaction has to take place in legal tender or only within the amount denominated by the legislation.

http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/policies-and-guidelines/leg...

Scottish bank notes aren't legal tender, and smcgivern is correct that legal tender doesn't mean someone has to accept it.

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

> English people tend to openly despise it and will often refuse it even when they're perfectly aware that it's legal tender.

Group A don't know it's legal tender, so they refuse to accept them.

Group B do know it's legal tender, but also know that group A is quite large. Hence some members (group BA) avoid the currency because they know it will make transactions with group A more difficult.

The remaining people, group BB, also know that group BA will try to avoid the currency. Some of those (group BBA) will avoid the currency because it makes transactions with group BA more difficult.

And so on.

In my experience it tends to be worse with Scottish money as it looks less like BOE notes than NI notes do.

I've found that most English people have at least heard of Scottish notes but don't realise Northern Ireland also has its own notes, in several different designs issued by different banks, and so are even less likely to accept an NI note than a Scottish one. Whenever I go over I try to spend all my NI notes before I come home.

I don't think the way Northern Bank notes now say Danske Bank on them instead is going to help me convince shops around here (non-London England) to take them either...

Last time I was in Belfast I got an Isle of Man fiver in my change - I don't fancy my chances of spending it here but I'd never seen one before so I'm just going to keep it for novelty value.

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