100 Pound Days

From the BBC:

“Just 100 days left to spend paper £20 and £50 notes”

The days of spending paper banknotes in the shops are numbered: 100 days, to be exact - so start hunting at home. Remaining paper £20 or £50 notes should be spent or deposited by the end of September, the Bank of England said. An estimated 163 million paper £50 banknotes and about 314 million £20 paper notes were still in circulation, the Bank said. These notes are being replaced with plastic versions, just like the £5 and £10 note, which are more durable. The Bank said the newer, polymer notes were also harder to counterfeit. "The majority of paper banknotes have now been taken out of circulation, but a significant number remain in the economy, so we're asking you to check if you have any at home," said the Bank's chief cashier, Sarah John, whose signature is on the new notes. From October, people with a UK bank account should still be able to deposit the paper notes into their account or at the Post Office, but spending them will be impossible. Paper £20 and £50 notes issued by Clydesdale Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland will also be withdrawn on the same date. The paper £20 notes issued by Bank of Ireland, AIB Group, Danske Bank, and Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland will also be withdrawn after 30 September.

Celebrating Alan Turing The Bank of England's paper £20 featuring economist Adam Smith has been in circulation since 2007, but has been gradually replaced by the plastic version which includes the work and portrait of artist JMW Turner. Also being withdrawn is the paper £50 note which shows the manufacturers Matthew Boulton and James Watt. This entered circulation in 2011 but is now substituted for the polymer note featuring Alan Turing. He helped accelerate Allied efforts to read German Naval messages enciphered with the Enigma machine, and so shortening World War Two and saving lives. He was also pivotal in the development of early computers, first at the National Physical Laboratory and later at the University of Manchester. Turing was gay at a time when homosexuality was illegal and he was convicted for having a relationship with a man. The government apologised for his treatment in 2009, and Turing received a posthumous Royal pardon in 2013. His appearance on the new £50 note has been welcomed by parts of the LGBT+ community as a symbol of a country facing up to the way gay men were persecuted. The polymer fiver featuring Winston Churchill launched in 2016, and the plastic £10 note including the portrait of Jane Austen was first issued in 2017. All old paper banknotes can be exchanged by the Bank of England at any time.

^ The Brits better rush to turn in their old £20 and £50 Banknotes since they can’t be used in Stores, etc. after September (although they can be exchanged at the Bank afterwards.)

English Pounds can be used throughout the United Kingdom, but Northern Irish Pounds, Scottish Pounds, Isle of Man Pounds, Jersey Pounds, Guernsey Pounds, Saint Helena Pounds, Gibraltar Pounds and Falkland Island Pounds can’t be used outside of their territory.

 The US Dollar seems to be the only Currency around the World that has never had to be exchanged since its introduction in 1792 (230 years ago.)

Even when the Southern US used the Confederate Dollar during the US Civil War those Dollars were not allowed to be exchanged for American Dollars. They simply became worthless overnight (since they weren’t backed by any Reserves and no International Country ever recognized the Confederacy or the Confederate Dollar.)

The US Dollar in its current form (the Federal Reserve Banknote) has been used since 1914 and even now all forms of American Currency (even if they haven’t been minted in centuries) has to be legally accepted everywhere in the USA (that is a Federal Law) although many US States and Territories have State Laws that regulate how much of a particular coinage can be used (like only being able to use 100 Pennies instead of 1 US Dollar Bill in some areas or not being able to make change for a 100 US Dollar Bill, etc.)

But that also means that a 1 US Dollar Banknote minted in 1870 and worth a lot more than a 1 US Dollar Banknote minted in 2022 can only be used to pay up to $1 and not the Thousands of Dollars it is really worth – so it would not be wise to use an 1870 $1 Bill to pay for something in 2022 that costs $1.

The US Dollar is the most widely used Currency in the World. It is not only the official Currency in: the United States and its 5 Territories, but also in: the British Virgin Islands; Turks and Caicos; the Caribbean Netherlands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba;  East Timor; Ecuador; El Salvador; the US Free Compact of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau; Panama and Zimbabwe.

It is also the most widely used Reserve Currency with 61% of all Reserve Accounts around the World being held in US Dollars.  ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61895327