A.G. Bell commemorative £1 Scottish Banknote from 1997

[Fabius]

This banknote seems to be fairly common on eBay. Interesting telephony go with. It's stated that it's a commemorative. Is it legal tender in Scotland/UK?

http://tinyurl.com/jsfb6h5

[Buzby]

I think that it would still be able to be used in Scotland, and if it were no longer current could be exchanged for a new one.

As it being "legal tender" is rather interesting.

Are Scottish & Northern Ireland banknotes "legal tender"?
In short 'No' these banknotes are not "legal tender"; furthermore, Bank of England banknotes are only legal tender in England and Wales. Legal tender has, however, a very narrow technical meaning in relation to the settlement of debt. If a debtor pays in legal tender the exact amount he/she owes under the terms of a contract (and in accordance with its terms), or pays this amount into court, he/she has good defence in law if he/she is sued for non-payment of the debt.

In ordinary everyday transactions, the term "legal tender" in its purest sense need not govern a banknote's acceptability in transactions. The acceptability of a Scottish or Northern Ireland banknote as a means of payment is essentially a matter for agreement between the parties involved. If both parties are in agreement, Scottish and Northern Ireland banknotes can be used in England and Wales. Holders of genuine Scottish and Northern Ireland banknotes are provided with a level of protection similar to that provided to holders of Bank of England banknotes. This is because the issuing banks must back their banknote issue using a combination of Bank of England banknotes, UK coin and funds in an interest bearing bank account at the Bank of England.

[twocvbloke]

I don't believe that particular £1 note is presently circulated, could be though, but I've not seen scottish notes for some years (they're as unacceptable as euros here in england it seems), but after 19 years, I'm not that confident it's still in circulation...

Anyway, here's RBS's info on the A.G Bell note:

http://heritagearchives.rbs.com/our-banknotes/commemorative-notes/alexander-graham-bell-1997.html

[Fabius]

I don't believe that particular £1 note is presently circulated, could be though, but I've not seen scottish notes for some years (they're as unacceptable as euros here in england it seems), but after 19 years, I'm not that confident it's still in circulation...

Anyway, here's RBS's info on the A.G Bell note:

http://heritagearchives.rbs.com/our-banknotes/commemorative-notes/alexander-graham-bell-1997.html

Why are the Scottish and Euro banknotes unacceptable?

The RBS is interesting. I could not find what RBS stands for. Royal Banking System?

[twocvbloke]

Technically speaking, Scottish notes aren't legal tender outside of Scotland, but it is up to the vendor if they accept them or not, up here in the north of england they tend to be somewhat accepted, but down south they're flat out refused. As for Euros, well, they're not our currency in the United Kingdom, some places will take them, but, they're very few and far between, I've never even seen euros, the nearest countries that use them are the Republic of Ireland and France...

And RBS, well, it's on the pictures of the notes above, Royal Bank of Scotland...

[WEBellSystemChristian]

It's funny how the website and note depict the schematic as a receiver, but it's actually a transmitter.

[19and41]

When the bank makes payment on the note as promised,  What serves as the tender of payment?

[Buzby]

It used to be paid out in gold sovereigns back in the day.

These days you would receive Pound coins.

[AE_Collector]

It's funny how the website and note depict the schematic as a receiver, but it's actually a transmitter.

True. Whomever write the "copy" messed up and no one caught the error.

Here is what the web site sys about the banknote which is pictured in the first post here by Fabius:

Alexander Graham Bell 150th anniversary £1 note, 1997

This note celebrated the birth in Edinburgh of Alexander Graham Bell, pioneer of the telephone. It was the first banknote in the EU to carry a hologram. Other features included:

- Alexander Graham Bell's portrait, name and dates.

- images of his famous work with telephones, including telephone users, a wave signal for 'telephone' and a schematic drawing of a receiver.

- representations of other scientific pursuits that occupied Bell, including birds, which he studied to understand flight; sheep, which helped him to understand genetics; and geometric shapes, with which he experimented to develop engineering structures.

- above all else, Bell saw himself as a teacher of the deaf - it is not surprising that this was so important to him, because his own wife was deaf. In honour of this work, the note shows Mrs Bell, as well as representations of sign language and the phonetic alphabet that Bell's father had developed.

Read more at http://heritagearchives.rbs.com/our-banknotes/commemorative-notes/alexander-graham-bell-1997.html#IE170qBsidQJtkvZ.99

[Fabius]

If this banknote say 1 pound sterling then do they redeem it in real .925 silver?

[19and41]

Bring a MAGnifying glass. 

[twocvbloke]

If this banknote say 1 pound sterling then do they redeem it in real .925 silver?

Nah, we don't even have real copper coins minted these days, and recently the cupronickel coins were re-done and minted on steel, so our coinage isn't even worth face value...

Scotland's an oddity in that they still have the £1 note (the £1 coin was introduced in 1982 I think, due to be replaced next year with a new thrupenny bit-style coin), and they have a £100 note too, domestically available English notes are £5, £10, £20 and £50, but with the ever decreasing value of our money, it wouldn't surprise me to see an English £100 note soon..

[19and41]

I think if our currency was minted in silver, we could carry all we need in a contact lens case.

[Buzby]

If this banknote say 1 pound sterling then do they redeem it in real .925 silver?

Nah, we don't even have real copper coins minted these days, and recently the cupronickel coins were re-done and minted on steel, so our coinage isn't even worth face value...

Scotland's an oddity in that they still have the £1 note (the £1 coin was introduced in 1982 I think, due to be replaced next year with a new thrupenny bit-style coin), and they have a £100 note too, domestically available English notes are £5, £10, £20 and £50, but with the ever decreasing value of our money, it wouldn't surprise me to see an English £100 note soon..

You're correct in saying Scotland's an oddity when it comes to money. There are 3 banks which issue notes - Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank. Each note of the same denomination features different art work, which makes for an interesting collection.

UK bank notes are also not of one size like the US$. The higher the value, the bigger the note.

If I recall correctly, the Pound coin was introduced in the UK in 1983 with the note being withdrawn from circulation in 1984.

[twocvbloke]

The three banks are probably why scottish notes are an iffy subject here in england, it's kind of amusing too, with the scottish independence thing recently, they had the problem of whether or not they could keep the Pound Sterling, but with three leading banks issuing notes, they could have just as easily gone with their own Scottish Pound, just as Ireland used to have their "Punt" before they got screwed over with the Euro...

And yes, it was '83 when the £1 coin came in, I was close though...

But that said, I'm looking forward to the new £1 coin, getting sick of the fakes being spat out by the self-serve machines at tesco that are then rejected when I return them to where they came from...