You won’t believe it Jag.. just yesterday I was cleaning up the hallway table at our home and I was thinking that this is something worth blogging! :)

I have never had trouble spending Scottish money, although I usually keep the £1 notes for their novelty value. I always wondered how clerks in shops could be sure that all the Scottish money is legit (I think there are three different issuing banks).

Once I came across a Northern Ireland fiver - I guess it was far enough from my own awareness that I never knew they had their own money, but why not? After holding on to it for longer than necessary coz I thought it was kinda neat, I had no trouble spending it on a pint of something and getting change in good old English money (I think).

I would be scared to air out my junk drawer in like manner.

Hi Bandiera: re the Scottish money - I agree - it must be especially difficult for the folks in England - most of the time I have tried to use a Scottish note I have been given funny looks and a request for an alternative.

Hey: the junk drawer/hallway-table thing was spur-of-the-moment. If I had spent too much time thinking about it I, too, would have been reticent to post about it. And anyway - what do you have in your “junk” drawer that would make you feel scared? Intrigued .…

Re: the Scottish fiver - I can take that off you!

We used to have a shelf on the radiator in the hallway which attracted the same sort of items. We removed it in an effort to reduce the clutter. The clutter only moved a little bit further (the worktop in the kitchen).

My dad always says that, everything has a place, and it has to go to those places. So we never got around to have a small hallway table for keeping misc. stuff. Money goes to the purse and coins to the coin box, letters to the cloth bags hanging by the side of a refridgerator, and all other cards in a cupboard. The only thing that may lie exposed are newspapers and magazines on a small glass center table in the hall.
MAkes the house look clean and tidy.

I couldn’t go to sleep knowing that there is such untidiness in my hallway. Therefore don’t have a table in the hallway. I’m sure that scottish fiver could be exchanged in any bank.

Vicky: I’m sure you’d find the Scottish money more useful than me! I have had Scottish notes refused in shops before: mostly Indian shops mind you. They are a lot more cautious/suspicious than the supermarkets.

Strop: I know exactly what you mean. That’s why we have a hallway table!

Sat: Your dad definitely has the right approach. I think we should take a leaf out of his book!

Stephane: I think you are like Sat’s dad! I will probably end up donating the Scottish fiver to charity along with the pile of coins that I empty from my pockets every day.

Don’t be afraid of using the note. It is legal tender and they have no right to refuse it. If they do, just ask to speak to the manager. I was working at Wimbledon last year and if people refused to take Scottish notes, I’d offer them the equivalent in silver. Amazing how it didn’t seem to be a problem when faced with that alternative!

Hi Sherry - well I accept what you say about it being legal tender and all that - I know that - it’s just that when you’re in an exceptionally busy WHSmith in Hammersmith Broadway shopping centre and there’s a mega-queue behind you it’s kind of hard to kick up a fuss. I know: I’ve been in that sort of queue and gotten really frustrated by people fumbling around their handbags or wallets for a little change etc. So - it’s not because I don’t know I have the right to use it that means that it sits around on my hallway table - it’s because I just don’t want the hassle and I haven’t gotten round to taking it to the bank to get is swapped for something more conventionally accepted. And in any case - I could save it for the next Indian wedding I attend - there seems to be a propensity for getting rid of Scottish notes at Indian (well Punjabi) weddings! :-)

Thanks for dropping by here by the way!

Scottish notes are not legal tender, not even in Scotland.