UK 50 pounds

[gweidion]

I know India did the same thing taking high denominations out because "criminals" were using them. What a load of BS.

[ken-a]

I agree it is silly but reality is, if you elect to try to use a £50 note in the UK, then be prepared that it will not be accepted.

There are people pushing back to that some places are no longer taking cash.  

https://campaignforcash.uk/
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/158/treasury-committee/news/206575/risk-of-twotier-society-if-government-does-not-act-on-cash-acceptance/

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmtreasy/324/report.html

There is a push to overturn this comment from this last link:

The acceptance of physical currency in the UK is not currently specified in legislation. UK businesses and organisations can therefore choose which payment methods they accept.

[gweidion]

I'll never be going to England, it is just too far. My one and only trip will be next year's trip to Scandinavia and Switzerland.
I better not like it too much cause I'm not going back.

Good luck with them getting that crap overturned.

[Tanecoins]

The same big banknotes are only used by criminals and the casinos is rife here.
Every time there is a big meth bust (Meth is real newsfodder here), they show photos not of the meth, but usually guns and wads of banknotes, even if only a small fractions are $100 (Most are $20 and $50).

I am also lesss likely to believe such notes are "big notes" when if you look at inflation, banknotes had so much more buying power in the past.

For example our $100 note today had the buying power of $3.25 in 1967, $11.40 by 1975 and $32.50 in 1983. Yet in those eras we had $20 and $100 circulating (Not so much $100, but they printed millions of 20s).

Our notes are worthless, but its all about convenience and saving money, you can charge fees on cards and banks make mega bucks on credit cards and most people max out their cards paying massive interest. Shops illegally ban cash transactions and such is the popularity of eftpos (Debit cards) and Paywave (Credit cards), that few people bother with cash money, yet the old and extra poor who have no or low digital literacy - still depend on cash.

Here in NZ at least, they deliberately print low numbers of the $100 notes anyway - as getting one is a challenge. ATMs only dispense $50 and $20 (And $50 have only become commonplace since 2015 with our new notes).

Looking at printing figures the $100 has always been low, they printed 52k £50 notes of the first series (1934 -39), just 250k of £50 in the next series (1940 - 1966) and the first $100 note of 1967 - 1980, they printed just 500,000 next to 132 million of the $20 note ( I managed to buy a battered $100 of this series for $800 this year).

The 4th series saw the introduction of a $50 note as well, yet just 2.5 million $100 were issued, 25 million $50 and around 250 million $20.

Of our current 2016 series, they have issued about 100 million $50 and 20 million $100, yet I suspect most of them are in the vaults unissued. The $20 notes around 300 million of them, but they are declining next to the $50 which is increasing and becoming the workhorse note, despite the age of cash decline. The $5 and $10 are languishing around 50 million each and we are still on the 2015 series for both in 2025.

The hostility towards higher value banknotes needs to end, and cash in general.

I actually think to match the past, they should issue a $500 note and even a $200, working up to a $1000 note.

[gweidion]

I agree we could do with a $200 note here but I can't see many poor or elderly having $500 or $1000 notes. Even I would struggle to have both of those.