American Reacts to British Money

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  • čas přidán 1. 03. 2023
  • As an American, I have almost no idea what British currency looks like and can absolutely not keep up with all of the slang words based around British money. That is why I am very excited today to take a closer look at what British money looks like and learn about what the different bills and coins are. If you enjoyed the video feel free to leave a comment, like, or subscribe for more!

Komentáře • 2,1K

  • @alancook
    @alancook Před rokem +389

    "There is no-one important on the back of a £20 note." Yup - only JMW Turner, Britain's greatest and most prolific painters. Also featured on the note is 'The Fighting Temeraire', one of his most famous paintings. This ship fought at Trafalgar with Nelson in 1805. You may remember James Bond and Q sitting together and discussing the ship in the film 'Skyfall.'

    • @TheMoonRover
      @TheMoonRover Před rokem +21

      That's the new £20 note, not the one in the video.

    • @saige6442
      @saige6442 Před rokem +32

      On the old 20 it was Adam Smith, an economist lol

    • @speleokeir
      @speleokeir Před rokem +43

      @@saige6442 The father of economics. So actually a big deal.

    • @racheldicker5611
      @racheldicker5611 Před rokem +4

      I love that painting

    • @vicandvin
      @vicandvin Před rokem +3

      Came here to say the same!

  • @Aloh-od3ef
    @Aloh-od3ef Před rokem +274

    British bank notes also have braille numbers on them.
    It’s another way of helping the visually impaired to know what bank note they are holding 😊

    • @mooglefourteena
      @mooglefourteena Před rokem +7

      As well as being slightly bigger in size, the larger the amount

    • @wessexdruid7598
      @wessexdruid7598 Před rokem +9

      The major difference is that they're all different _sizes_ . Whereas dollar bills, whatever the denomination, are all exactly the same size. It is much easier to shortchange people.

    • @saucygibbon56
      @saucygibbon56 Před rokem +5

      It's not actually braille numbers. It's just a cluster of braille dots with a different number of clusters for each note. Very handy.

    • @gaelsomerville5163
      @gaelsomerville5163 Před rokem +8

      The £1 coin is now multi sided. The £1 before decimalisation was made up of 20 shillings with each shilling being made up of 12 pence (pennies). Two shillings was known as a Florin and two shillings and 6 pence was also a coin known as half a crown (a crown was 5 shillings). Half a shilling (6 pence) was known as a tanner and half of that (3 pence) was known as thruppence.
      Half a penny was known as a ha'penny (pronounced hape knee) and a quarter of a penny was a farthing. As well as £1 that was made up of 20 shillings, there was also a Guinea which was made up of 21 shillings.
      Sadly I remember the old currency before we went decimalised.
      Of interest, the coins are all made at the Royal Mint who also mint the coins for some other countries.

    • @peterc.1618
      @peterc.1618 Před rokem +6

      @@saucygibbon56 There are two groups, two rows of two dots each, on the £10 note, three on the £20 note, and four on the £50 note, but none on the fiver. The pattern was chosen after consultation with the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People).

  • @DermotKieran1
    @DermotKieran1 Před rokem +97

    Years ago, you had to pay one penny to use public toilets, that's how "Spending a penny" became a euphemism for needing to pee.
    The £20 and £50 notes were upgraded last year, so now they are also made of polymer.
    The highest denomination note in circulation produced by the bank of England is £50, but there are Scottish £100 notes in circulation.

    • @lordomacron3719
      @lordomacron3719 Před rokem

      Ha try spending a Scottish bank note in England. On time I have heard the term ‘legal Tender’ in public.

    • @DermotKieran1
      @DermotKieran1 Před rokem

      @@lordomacron3719 I used a Scottish £20 at my local chippy back in January. I usually end up bringing back a few Scottish notes to London each time I visit my sister's in Scotland. I've only been questioned about it twice in the last 7 years. Both times were in small family run shops.
      That said, I know many small local shops can be a bit fussy about it. Specially in smaller towns and villages in the southern part of England, but up north like around Newcastle, you shouldn't have any issues. I've never had a problem using Scottish notes in any of the major supermarkets, so if you do have Scottish notes in England, then they are your best bet for hassle free shopping.

    • @markopolo1271
      @markopolo1271 Před rokem

      @@lordomacron3719 honestly though every single shopkeeper will look at you like you just smoked a crackpipe right in his shop when you try paying with scotch notes

    • @ashleytaylor7621
      @ashleytaylor7621 Před rokem

      Pretty sure the 50 quid note has been discontinued and is no longer british tender you can still use the scottish 100.

    • @DermotKieran1
      @DermotKieran1 Před rokem +2

      @@ashleytaylor7621 The Bank of England only released the new polymer £50 in the summer of 2021. Given that they were designed to last decades, I'd say it's extremely unlikely they would dump it after only 2 years.

  • @erinspeller4025
    @erinspeller4025 Před 10 měsíci +16

    Fun fact: you may have noticed the £ looks like an L, this is because it is for Libra Pondo which was a weight in Roman times, we may use Pound (from Pondo) but the symbol comes from Libra (also why pounds in weight has the symbol "lb"). Libra is of course associated with the scales (see star contilations) as in times gone by, goods and money were weighed to determine value.
    In case you did not know, the $ comes from the name Spanish Dollar or Peso - because the Spanish dominated the Americas... and it stuck...

  • @cockleshellzero3893
    @cockleshellzero3893 Před rokem +195

    I'm surprised that they didn't mention in the video that the smaller value coins each have part of a jigsaw puzzle on the reverse side. If you lay them together in the correct order, they show the Royal Coat of Arms. I've always thought was kinda cool.

    • @neuralwarp
      @neuralwarp Před rokem

      Cool but ugly

    • @susanmullen5105
      @susanmullen5105 Před rokem +16

      I was about to say this!! In the picture they showed, the coins were in formation... but they didn't mention it! 🤦‍♀️ I always find it one of the most fantastic things about British currency!

    • @meta-zeno505
      @meta-zeno505 Před rokem +1

      I smjust said this haha

    • @justjackorwhatever
      @justjackorwhatever Před rokem +2

      wha-

    • @lgl75982
      @lgl75982 Před rokem +5

      I've lived 15 years in this country...BIRTH TO NOW...and I've never heard that...regardless, i appreciate your enlightenment.😔

  • @ellesee7079
    @ellesee7079 Před rokem +27

    You'll notice in the comments, we refer to the 'paper' money as notes, not bills.

    • @ajones684
      @ajones684 Před rokem +3

      Yeah, it's the WRONG terminology to call it a "bill". A bill is a written invoice!

    • @watfordjc
      @watfordjc Před rokem +2

      @@ajones684 I'm not sure how the Fed does things so bill might sense linguistically, but the reason we call them "notes" in the UK is because it's shorthand for "promissory notes". In the olden days the Bank of England upheld the promise written on every note by letting you walk into the building and asking to exchange the Chief Treasurers' promises for their value in gold - when we left the gold standard in 1931 the promise was no longer backed by gold but by securities (i.e. gilts) but the promise is still upheld (any notes out of circulation, or damaged notes, can be exchanged for good current notes).

  • @championmatt
    @championmatt Před rokem +5

    Fun fact: if you shine a UV light on the correct side of a UK bank note, it shows a number equal to the value of the note - so a fiver shows a 5, a tenner a 10, etc.

  • @keithcornish5073
    @keithcornish5073 Před rokem +18

    we use the £1 (one pound) coin all the time, because we dont have a £1 note. The £2 coin is fairly new and I think it was introduced to help with vending machines. We have a ton of different names for our money and theres probably a lot of names that are local to different areas of the country, like there are for most things in Britain. Pre 1971 we had different money altogether Pounds, Shillings & Pence. There were 240 pennies to a pound. Pounds were divided into Shillings. A Shilling was worth 12 pennies and was known a a "bob". You then had a 10 Shilling note (10 bob) which was half a quid (pound). Five Shillings was a "Crown" (five shillings was often called a Dollar as I think there were once 4 dollars to a pound, though I could be wrong on that one) The next coin was the Half Crown worth 2 shillings and 6 pence, this was often called a "half a'dollar" Then there was the "2 bob bit" witch was the 2 shilling piece (A "bit" was any single coin) Then it was the Shilling (1 bob) next was the 6 penny piece (for ever known as a "Tanner") Then the 3 penny piece (the "thru'penny bit..... cockney rhyming slang for the shits) Then came the Penny, next it was the half penny ("ha'penny") and lastly the Farthing which was a quarter of a penny.....The old money system was known as LSD (no not that LSD) and was in some ways better than the decimal currency we have now, because being made up of units of 12 meant that it could be divided in more ways than the decimal system of 10 (the pound cannot be divided equally by three as there is no coin worth a third of a penny)........phew! I need a lie down after that

    • @anamewillcomelater
      @anamewillcomelater Před 5 měsíci

      Scotland still has a £1 note. It's still in circulation but they haven't made any new ones since 2001.

    • @blackandwhiterag1117
      @blackandwhiterag1117 Před 3 měsíci

      Don't forget the Florin which was worth two shillings

    • @RubberRivet
      @RubberRivet Před 2 měsíci

      I half expected you to go back to the groat 😀

  • @garethweir8411
    @garethweir8411 Před rokem +79

    So the term “to spend a Penny” came from when you had to pay for public bathrooms as it cost a penny in most places (when it started) and the saying has stuck.

    • @avaggdu1
      @avaggdu1 Před rokem +7

      It started in The Great Exhibition in 1851.

    • @PolarBear4
      @PolarBear4 Před rokem +2

      I'm in the Lake District right now and had to use some public loos. Was 50p - and contactless lol. Last time I paid for the loo it was 20p.

    • @evernoob8434
      @evernoob8434 Před rokem +5

      Soon instead of "Spend a Penny" we are going to have to "Drop a Pound".
      🙃🎈

    • @Jodiice1981
      @Jodiice1981 Před rokem +2

      Came to the comments to check someone had said this already 👍🏻

    • @EuroScot2023
      @EuroScot2023 Před rokem

      The expression really came into use with the introduction of coin operated locks on the cubicles in public toilets. As always, people prefer to use an euphemism rather than saying 'I need to go and pee'.

  • @cockleshellzero3893
    @cockleshellzero3893 Před rokem +49

    Speaking as someone who enjoys beach metal detecting on a popular tourist beach, I love the £1 and £2 coins. They give a really strong signal even if they're buried quite deep in the sand. A couple of hours of detecting usually turns up enough for a takeaway dinner and a couple of cans of beer. :)

    • @Emmet_Moore
      @Emmet_Moore Před rokem +1

      The first time I saw one of the new pound coins was when I found one on the beach a few days after they came into circulation. I wonder how much money gets taken by the tide.

    • @tonys1636
      @tonys1636 Před rokem +5

      Never had a problem with getting the children to hoover the Taxi out as they could keep any coins found but not the notes. They once found a wad of £50's down the back seat. £1000 handed it over to the Police got it back 3 months later as not claimed. Wonder why? 'Dirty' drug money?

    • @cockleshellzero3893
      @cockleshellzero3893 Před rokem

      @@Emmet_Moore Aside from winter storms which move the sand around a lot, most coins when dropped on the beach, tend to sink down into the sand where they were dropped. The tide doesn't really move them, rather the action of the waves just makes them sink into the sand. So if you know the sort of spots where tourists typically drop money, finding them with a metal detector is like shooting fish in a barrel. :)

    • @cockleshellzero3893
      @cockleshellzero3893 Před rokem

      @@tonys1636 Yeah, I would have thought that if wasn't ill-gotten gains then your taxi company would have received a panicked phone call.

    • @tonys1636
      @tonys1636 Před rokem +3

      @@cockleshellzero3893 Wasn't on a Radio Circuit at that time so he/she must have hailed me or my other driver of it from a rank. The towns only nightclub was closed a year later and the owners faced drug offences. Wouldn't have thought came out of one of the private members clubs. Wouldn't have put it past some Lodge members though.

  • @trevordance5181
    @trevordance5181 Před rokem +57

    You could call a £20 note A Score, and a £50 note A Bullseye. They are commonly called notes here in the UK not bills. Scotland and Northern Ireland issue their own banknotes which are used alongside Engilsh notes.

    • @chrismackey9267
      @chrismackey9267 Před rokem +3

      A bank note is actually a promise yto pay the amount shown printed on it, like a cheque is a promise to pay the amount written on it by the person issueing, or writing it out and signing it. A bank not in the Uk has the signature of the governor of the issueing bank in Scotland or N Ireland, or the Bank of England in England.

    • @leeriches8841
      @leeriches8841 Před rokem +4

      It's so annoying as a Scotsman having to exchange our Scottish banknotes to English notes if travelling to England. I learned that hard lesson the very first time I went to London- so many shopkeepers thought my money was fake lol.

    • @welsh-cymru1588
      @welsh-cymru1588 Před rokem

      I didnt even know Scotland had its own money until a few months ago when I visited I just assumed they used the English notes because we use the England notes in wales by the way I have never heard of someone using score and bullseye before must be an England thing

    • @AimeeColeman
      @AimeeColeman Před rokem +1

      So does Bristol. Busses in Bristol are happy to take Bristol bank notes, but I've never seen them be used anywhere else. I think they're a bit of a gimmick

    • @DermotKieran1
      @DermotKieran1 Před rokem +3

      @@welsh-cymru1588 Around London a score = £20, a pony = £25, a bullseye = £50, a ton = £100 and a monkey = £500.

  • @smockboy
    @smockboy Před rokem +13

    The £20 and £50 notes have been updated from paper to polymer notes since they posted this video. The tiered sizing (£5 notes are smaller than £10 notes which are smaller than £20 which are smaller than £50) is there for precisely to help those with vision impairments. The polymer notes also have braille on the corners for the blind (except the £5, but its lack of braille makes it readily distinguishable from the others).
    They will slowly phase out the current stock of notes with Queen Elizabeth II on them once they start circulating the King Charles III notes and coins sometime in mid-2024.

  • @sharonscholey1444
    @sharonscholey1444 Před rokem +48

    For us older people we also had a half pence coin growing up and a £1 note

    • @wessexdruid7598
      @wessexdruid7598 Před rokem +5

      Farthings? 🙂

    • @tonys1636
      @tonys1636 Před rokem +3

      And a 10/- note. The 50p coin came out before decimalisation to prepare us. Some shopkeepers robbed us with price conversions "god that's gone up mate!". Many didn't actually notice as inflation was worse than now.

    • @rachelbarber8814
      @rachelbarber8814 Před rokem +1

      I think we should still have the pound note personally.

    • @kathyclark9203
      @kathyclark9203 Před rokem +4

      I remember farthings, my nan used to give us kids one each Sunday. Used to go in the shop and get loads of sweets.

    • @TheGarryq
      @TheGarryq Před rokem +2

      @@wessexdruid7598 a farthing, which stopped being tender in 1961, was one quarter of a penny

  • @johnwilletts3984
    @johnwilletts3984 Před rokem +84

    Fun fact: Originally a pound was the value of one pound in weight of silver.

    • @ianwalker5842
      @ianwalker5842 Před rokem +14

      Hence pounds Stirling?

    • @johnwilletts3984
      @johnwilletts3984 Před rokem +9

      Stirling I think came a little later. This from two Scottish brothers called Stirling who invented Stirling Silver. Pure silver is very soft. The Stirling brothers produced a much harder and more useful material by adding a little copper to the Silver. Stirling Silver is 92.5% silver.

    • @tmac160
      @tmac160 Před rokem +6

      The term 'pound sterling' came from the pre-Norman Anglo-Saxon coin known as a sterling (probably meaning 'little star'), a pound weight of which was known as a pound.

    • @wessexdruid7598
      @wessexdruid7598 Před rokem +1

      @@johnwilletts3984 Silver is Sterling - as are GBP..

    • @tonys1636
      @tonys1636 Před rokem +1

      Actually the weight of a gold sovereign which is 1 troy oz. of pure gold (1/20 of a lb.) 1 Sov. = £1 20 Sovs. = 1lb in weight. (A lot of money today).

  • @sooskevington6144
    @sooskevington6144 Před rokem +18

    Having the different denominations of banknotes in different sizes and colours is very useful. Having all the notes the exact same size and colour like American dollars must create great difficulties for visually impaired people.

    • @Fifury161
      @Fifury161 Před 9 měsíci +2

      Also worth noting that the new polymer notes actually have the value stamped in braille...

    • @TomGodson95
      @TomGodson95 Před 5 měsíci

      ​@Fifury161 I've noticed that, sure it's near that clear bit

    • @alfonsoerasmus5037
      @alfonsoerasmus5037 Před 4 měsíci

      Hello from South Africa 🇿🇦. If you get paid in cash for a job, you would have to count it ( in front of the client /customer which could give the wrong impression), because the notes are all the same size - not sure about the colour. There could be 100's on the top and bottom with other denominations inbetween. That's why our notes are different sizes and colours.👍

    • @AcanthaDante
      @AcanthaDante Před 2 měsíci +1

      The different colours saved my hide when a customer at the shop I was working at accused me of short changing her. You could clearly see that I had a blue-green note in my hand on the camera, not an orange one.

  • @joanneloynes4002
    @joanneloynes4002 Před rokem +23

    As a Brit, I really enjoy watching these videos!! I find myself answering your questions out loud lol! You're great, keep up the good work!!

  • @lucyj8204
    @lucyj8204 Před rokem +68

    Quid is just like "buck" for dollar. You probably wouldn't use it in a formal situation but everyone understands it. Also don't forget that you also use words like "nickel", "dime" and "quarter" for your coins, so you definitely do have slang terms for your money!
    Coins and notes are all different sizes and shapes so you can identify them by feel - handy for everyone but REALLY useful for people with a vision impairment.
    We also use the word "note" rather than "bill" - a "bill" is a check in a restaurant, or an invoice.
    The first Charles III coins have just gone into circulation (50p piece) and they'll gradually replace the rest over the next years or decades.
    All our currency is in 1/2/5, 10/20/50, and it's easy arithmetic. For example, to make 88p you need 50+20+10+5+2+1. For 88c you'd need 25+25+25+10+1+1+1, right? which is a whole extra coin.
    We use £2 and £1 coins a lot because we don't have £1 notes any more.

    • @razor1uk610
      @razor1uk610 Před rokem +5

      ^^ pin & highlight the above comment

    • @JarlGrimmToys
      @JarlGrimmToys Před rokem +9

      That’s what I was finding confusing with Tyler’s initial surprise that we had a nickname for pound. When Americans use a nickname for US dollars all the time.
      I think it comes from the same place as when some Americans go on about British accents. Then are surprised to find out they themselves have an accent, an American accent.

    • @simov8chevy
      @simov8chevy Před rokem +3

      You also use greenback over there for your dollar bill.

    • @B-A-L
      @B-A-L Před rokem +5

      The weird thing is that Americans use the term penny despite having cents.

    • @seanscanlon9067
      @seanscanlon9067 Před rokem

      Isn't there a 50 cents coin in America?

  • @johnkemp8904
    @johnkemp8904 Před rokem +64

    I’m a 74 year old Briton and I think in my lifetime things have changed to the extent that when I was a child I considered people who remembered the Second World War as old, whereas at my age I realise that I must be old because I remember the pre-decimalisation currency (decimal currency came in in 1971) and I had actually passed the age of 21 when that happened. I still remember the old system of £sd to four places of decimals (my earliest job was in a Cost Office) which is one of the more useless attainments I have. It had 240 old pennies to the pound instead of 100.
    What I do distinctly remember is an American tourist being asked on radio at the time what he thought about our changing currency, and his reply was that he found it very confusing! I could never understand why someone from a decimal currency country like the USA would find a decimal currency system confusing! Perhaps you had to be American?

    • @johnsharp6618
      @johnsharp6618 Před rokem +15

      I feel old,
      2 farthings = 1 halfpenny
      2 halfpence = 1 penny (1d)
      3 pence = 1 thruppence (3d)
      6 pence = 1 sixpence (a 'tanner') (6d)
      12 pence = 1 shilling (a bob) (1s)
      2 shillings = 1 florin ( a 'two bob bit') (2s)
      2 shillings and 6 pence = 1 half crown (2s 6d)
      5 shillings = 1 Crown (5s)

    • @qwadratix
      @qwadratix Před rokem +5

      When I was at junior school, 'doing sums' with money was the bane of my life. We usually worked in pounds, shillings, pence (pennies), halfpenny and farthings. Addition and multiplication were bad enough but long division was a nightmare.
      Find the remainder of dividing £132, 3 shillings and sixpence halfpenny by 9.

    • @tonys1636
      @tonys1636 Před rokem +4

      The £ beng a stylised L for Libre the same as the € for Euro is a stylised E. Oh for the old Lsd days. What a $ has to do with Dollar is a mystery.

    • @tonys1636
      @tonys1636 Před rokem +5

      @@johnsharp6618 You Forgot the old Guinea coin value £1. 1/- (£1.05p) Bloodstock (Horses) are sold in Guineas still today. Also the gold Sovereign (£1) and half Sovereign (10/- = 50p) but now worth the current gold bullion value plus a premium depending on condition and year. The Sovereign weighs 1 troy oz. or should. (1 troy oz. = 1/20 lb. not 1/16).
      The first banknote was the old white £5 just under in A4 size and only printed on the face in black. One had to write one's name on back when spending where not known as were very easy to counterfeit.

    • @johnsharp6618
      @johnsharp6618 Před rokem +1

      @Tony S I was only young as the money changed, to be honest. I never got more than a sixpence and bloody lucky if I got a florin .

  • @psychosoma5049
    @psychosoma5049 Před rokem +13

    One of the bad things about having polymer notes is how they are difficult to fold, they’ve been known to spring out of you wallet or your hand and then float off into oblivion…..

    • @diarmuidkuhle8181
      @diarmuidkuhle8181 Před 4 měsíci

      And they often stick together. I've handed over twice the money I meant to give more than once.

  • @Sandysand701
    @Sandysand701 Před měsícem +2

    Sometimes folk (mostly from London) use rhyming slang for their money, for example: A Nicker or an Alan whicker ( a nicker can be substituted for quid) is a pound, a Lady Gerdiver is £5 a Big Ben is £10, a score is £20, a Pony (short form of pony and trap) is 25, a Bullseye is £50, a Ton or Century is £100, a Monkey is £500, a Grand is a £1000, there are many more, but these are the common phrases used. Having no money, we would say I'm Skint or they are Skint, same as broke.

  • @elaines.8038
    @elaines.8038 Před rokem +18

    One thing they missed out was that the lower denomination coins when put together form a shield. If you go back and look at the back of the coins you can see part of the shield on each one ..... a fiscal jigsaw.

    • @TrueZero2
      @TrueZero2 Před rokem

      While the Pound Coin has the full design on them!

  • @Established1965
    @Established1965 Před rokem +69

    A quid is equal to 100 pence, generally believed to come from the Latin phrase “quid pro quo,” which translates into "something for something," or an equal exchange for goods or services.

    • @razor1uk610
      @razor1uk610 Před rokem +2

      ^^ please pin & highlight the above comment, it explains a lot!

    • @peterdorrington3755
      @peterdorrington3755 Před rokem

      the term 'quid' is also sometimes thought to come from a term describing a bunch of tobacco - a quid of tobacco - which was also used for exchange (like gold or silver). The new notes have lots of features to try and defeat counterfeighting, and the design is regularly updated, but it is always a goal that a blind or partially sighted person can sort out a specific amount through touch alone (this includes the coins) something nearly impossible to do with currencies of uniform size for different denominations (where, for example, a third-party would fold each type of note differently to make them recognisable).

    • @bloozee
      @bloozee Před rokem +3

      A pound was never 100 pence until " new- pence"

    • @bloozee
      @bloozee Před rokem +3

      @@razor1uk610 it's wrong.

    • @iriscollins7583
      @iriscollins7583 Před rokem

      Pence, Pennies .

  • @commentor8558
    @commentor8558 Před rokem +2

    Fun fact: I don't know if anyone has mentioned this but before we switched to "plastic" notes they were not made out of "paper" like the woman says in the video they were made of cotton or "cotton paper".
    Also she say's that pennys and 5p's are made from silver and copper and that also is not true any more.

  • @neilcuk5532
    @neilcuk5532 Před rokem +7

    British notes differ in size and colour to help those who are partially sighted differentiate between each note. The same way as each coin differs in size and shape. Also the new notes have braille on them. It will take time for new notes and coins to enter circulation with King Charles on however, new 50 pence coins with Charles on the reverse have started to enter circulation.

    • @sebxiou-lifestyle4465
      @sebxiou-lifestyle4465 Před rokem

      Hi NeilC. You are 100% right but I would also add that different appearances (sizes / colours) also help anti-counterfeiting efforts. Moreover, even for the perfectly-sighted, they help us avoid simple errors. Cheers.

  • @grenvallion
    @grenvallion Před rokem +20

    youll also occasionally get people who still also call 50p coins 10 bob. A 'bob' was the slang word for a Shilling, which was worth 12 old pennies. Following decimilisation in 1971, a Shilling was worth 5 new pence. The old 'ten bob note' (10 shillings) was the equivalent of 5 Florins, or 4 Half Crowns, or 2 Crowns. After decimilisation, it was worth 50p

    • @TheGarryq
      @TheGarryq Před rokem +1

      10 florins to the pound - issued in the early 1800s as the UK's first step towards decimalisation.

  • @elunedlaine8661
    @elunedlaine8661 Před rokem +76

    There's also some slang for money - a pony = £25 and a monkey = £500. Money's also known as 'bread' which comes from rhyming slang 'bread and honey'. Before the UK was decimalised, 240 pennies = £1

    • @joemama-df6cb
      @joemama-df6cb Před rokem +12

      And a score = £20

    • @wallythewondercorncake8657
      @wallythewondercorncake8657 Před rokem +3

      And a pound coin is called a nugget, at least round here it is. Not sure if that's a regional thing or not

    • @ebbhead20
      @ebbhead20 Před rokem +3

      You have a Buck. A Jackson, and a Benjamin and 30 others. Theres too much to mention really...

    • @TheHillingdon2
      @TheHillingdon2 Před rokem +5

      Got a deep sea diver?

    • @sebwanna
      @sebwanna Před rokem +3

      Also a score is £20

  • @Turn1t0ff
    @Turn1t0ff Před 10 měsíci +2

    In my area, we used to call a £5 note a bluey. So on and so forth for the rest corresponding by colour.
    Colour, size, quantity of braille dimples, historical figure on the back, and of course the numerical denomination.
    So many ways to identify our cash.

  • @MICKEYISLOWD
    @MICKEYISLOWD Před rokem +16

    The pence denominations was driven by the pricing of common goods. If an item is £2.59 you give the retailer £3 and you get back 41p for example. You start to accumulate all this change. This change can be made up of whatever the retailer gives you. Over time you just end up with all these small coins which becomes a pain in the neck. I have a plastic tub full of low value coins and I think a lot of people do too.

    • @Joanna-il2ur
      @Joanna-il2ur Před rokem

      In Italy when there were 2400 lire to the pound, shopkeepers used to give change in the form of sweets.

    • @ChaoticKrisis
      @ChaoticKrisis Před rokem +1

      It allows for the minimum possible coins with change without being overbearing. 5+2+2 = 9, 3 coins vs 5+1+1+1+1, 5 coins, also all money goes 1, 2, 5, 1(0), 2(0), 5(0), 1(.00), 2(.00), 5(.00), 1(0.00), 2(0.00), 5(0.00) to allow for this.

    • @chrystpick7741
      @chrystpick7741 Před 11 měsíci +1

      Some banks have a cash machine sorter where u can dump all your change in and it will put the amount in your account

  • @Paul-hl8yg
    @Paul-hl8yg Před rokem +21

    The Pound (£) is the oldest currency in the World still in use. It started 750 AD - 800 AD in England. The first Pound coin was in 1489 AD under the reign of Henry VII. The Penny dates back to the 9th century in England too. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇺🇸

    • @ashleytaylor7621
      @ashleytaylor7621 Před rokem

      Wrong the pound comes from the romans we adopted it as to our currency was LSD pound, shilling, denari(pence)

    • @ashleytaylor7621
      @ashleytaylor7621 Před rokem

      So technically the oldest currency was from the romans as we still use pound and pence today which were both roman.

    • @Paul-hl8yg
      @Paul-hl8yg Před rokem +2

      @@ashleytaylor7621 No, the British Pound is the oldest used currency. The Romans used the Aureus, Denarius & Sestertius. Are they in use today?

    • @ashleytaylor7621
      @ashleytaylor7621 Před rokem

      @@Paul-hl8yg the pound and denari come from the romams and as i just stated the pence actually stands for denari so yes yes we still use pounds and denari to thus day which is roman currency that they brought to england.... Was that really that hard to understand?

    • @ashleytaylor7621
      @ashleytaylor7621 Před rokem

      @@Paul-hl8yg the pound coin youre talking about is sterling pound whixh yes is the british currency but it didnt take over the roman pound it just added different value the same thing that happens to everysingle currency, also if you think that the currency changes just because its looks different then how come we still call our 1p 2p 5p 10p 20p 50p pence? Theyre not pence? A pence is 1/12 of a shilling and a shilling is 1/20 of a pound but yet its still pence and pounds the value and the design may have changed but its still pence the same currency we have used for over 1000 years. I think if you dont truly know your history you shouldnt talk on such matters...

  • @JonDraine
    @JonDraine Před rokem +51

    The 10p, 50p and £2 coins also have loads of different pictures on the face side. These represent historical events, people or other significant things in the UK. Fun to collect. Some are extremely rare and can be worth way more than face value to collectors.

    • @patmcguirk5299
      @patmcguirk5299 Před rokem +5

      The ones with parts of the shield on can be put together to make the full shield.

    • @mikebridges7294
      @mikebridges7294 Před rokem +4

      @@patmcguirk5299 I didn't know that....I'm going to go through those coins now, to see if I can put a complete shield together lol.

    • @JarlGrimmToys
      @JarlGrimmToys Před rokem

      @@mikebridges7294each coin has a different part of the shield. So you need a full set 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, and 50p to make the full shield.
      Also some pound coins have an image of the full shield on them.

    • @madyottoyotto3055
      @madyottoyotto3055 Před rokem +2

      The old 10p was also the exact same size as a new £2 and two shilling
      Same for the old 5p being the same size as the one shilling
      You could spend the old 5p and 10p and one and two shillings at the same time to the values of the 5 or 10 pence after decimalisation

    • @madyottoyotto3055
      @madyottoyotto3055 Před rokem +2

      @@mikebridges7294 yes the shield design was actually part of a competition won if memory serves me correctly
      It was won by Arthur dent and lead to the shield design being known as the dent shield

  • @carlvickers7626
    @carlvickers7626 Před rokem +10

    The old "paper" money was not actually paper. It was made from cotton pulp rather than wood pulp like normal paper. The colours used for each note are unique to the Bank of England so you won't find these exact colours on anything else and also although the ink used is dry to the touch it has unique properties that mean it never actually fully dries out. Finally, a couple of fun facts. There is a £1 million hand written bank note on display at the Bank of England museum which is technically legal tender and Queen Elizabeth II is the first British Monarch to have their portrait feature on our Bank notes.

    • @wyvernmodelrailway
      @wyvernmodelrailway Před 8 měsíci

      Previous monarchs portraits were used on bank notes going back to at least George V

    • @carlvickers7626
      @carlvickers7626 Před 8 měsíci

      Yes, on Scottish notes. Elizabeth II is the first monarch on English banknotes.

  • @DaveBartlett
    @DaveBartlett Před rokem +2

    Certain decimal coinage came into circulation prior to the 1971 decimalisation: I remember all hell breaking loose, back in the mid-seventies when a checkout operator in a supermarket I was working in, accepted a pre-decimal 10 shilling note, (which had been superceded in 1970 by the 50p coin,) assuming that it was a Scottish £10 note.

  • @kingdong2484
    @kingdong2484 Před rokem +24

    Yes, For those of us who still prefer to use cash we generally use coins more than notes especially £1 and £2 coins

    • @ashleytaylor7621
      @ashleytaylor7621 Před rokem

      If youre 80 maybe who in there right mind walks around with change?? Are you good?

    • @ashleytaylor7621
      @ashleytaylor7621 Před rokem

      Youre telling me when you get a pint you pay with 10 20p and 5 10p

    • @kingdong2484
      @kingdong2484 Před 11 měsíci

      I'm 39, if I have change in my pocket I will use it. I still use 1p's, 2p's, 5p's and 10p's if I just need something like a loaf of bread.

    • @aidancolyer7924
      @aidancolyer7924 Před 11 měsíci

      @@ashleytaylor7621 where the hell are you that a pint is £2.50?

    • @ashleytaylor7621
      @ashleytaylor7621 Před 11 měsíci

      @@aidancolyer7924 anywhere not in london..... Or the south

  • @Loulizabeth
    @Loulizabeth Před rokem +45

    We do use the £1 and £2 coins quite a lot especially depending where you are. Like paying for a takeaway or in other places that struggle to use card payments. Plus you use the £1 coin to use many shopping trolleys.

    • @ebbhead20
      @ebbhead20 Před rokem +2

      Yeah, fish and chips was 2 quid back when i lived up north. And a cab home from the west end was just under 3 quid in the 90's. So you always had some coins on ya for that kind of stuff.. 😎

    • @eilidhwatson8406
      @eilidhwatson8406 Před rokem +1

      I was looking for the Shopping trolley comment lol also I still use coins for parking machines but most of them are now changing to cards which stresses me out lol

    • @OnlyGrafting
      @OnlyGrafting Před rokem +1

      Also working in a small town store, people bring in £2 coins frequently enough that at the end of the day there's like a good few of them in the tills.
      A lot of folk try to off £2 coins because they're seen as less convenient so yeah they're used a lot more than you'd think.

    • @dasy2k1
      @dasy2k1 Před rokem

      And if you need to pay for parking in a P&D machine hardly any accept notes, even if it's like £7.60 for parking.... You have to feed it in with coins

  • @joeblandd6425
    @joeblandd6425 Před rokem +2

    Another note about British denominations is that they all work in 1/2 - whole - double forms, although the 1/2 penny fell out of favour a long time ago. So:
    Coins:
    1/2 p (discontinued a long time ago), 1p, 2p,
    5p, 10p, 20p,
    50, £1, £2
    Notes:
    £5, £10, £20,
    £50
    There are apparently two different £100 notes, one in Scotland, and one in Ireland, but there is no English equivalent

  • @user-yk1cf8qb7q
    @user-yk1cf8qb7q Před 5 měsíci +1

    Hi Tyler,
    the portrait on the obverse (back) of the notes are of famous historical Britons, which is regularly changed. We also have a £50 note, but it is rarely used. The Notes also have a feature which is only visible under ultraviolet light, most shops have a lamp to check it. There are also several anti forging devices on the notes including a hologram which is quite cool. Also, the notes are of different sizes which is handy for the blind, it also includes a braille imprint.

  • @avaggdu1
    @avaggdu1 Před rokem +24

    The pound symbol (£) derives from it resembling a stylised "L", from the old system of referring to pounds, shillings and pence (LSD) which is from the Roman Livre, Sesterti and Denari. A shilling was equilvalent to 5 pence (5p) and was written as 1/- (like on the Mad Hatter's hat from Alice in Wonderland). Quid is from the Latin (as in 'quid pro quo') meaning "something" or "the essence of". A guinea was very roughly equivalent to a pound, named because it was made from West African gold. It's value was between 20 to 30 shillings (depending on the value of gold). Guineas where used for luxury items; racehorses are still valued in guineas (being £1.05 for each guinea) as are the prizes in horse races. The extra £0.05 was theoretically the seller's commission.

    • @ougadougou9
      @ougadougou9 Před rokem +1

      The Latin word for pound is "Libra". "Livre" is French, not Roman, and is used occasionally to mean 500 grams (confusing, since a pound in the US and UK is 453.6 grams). But they also refer to the UK currency as "La Livre Sterling".

    • @wessexdruid7598
      @wessexdruid7598 Před rokem +1

      Librae, Solidi, and Denarii. These were originally Roman measures.

    • @avaggdu1
      @avaggdu1 Před rokem

      @@wessexdruid7598 Apologies, my bad. You are correct.

    • @msar7044
      @msar7044 Před rokem

      @avaggdu1 In the LSD system a shilling is 12 pence and 20 shillings is a pound. After introducing the new/decimal penny the kept the 20 shillings in a pound thus the shilling became 5 new pennies,

  • @-R.Gray-
    @-R.Gray- Před rokem +11

    I like these guys a lot better than that last American couple who end up asking the viewer questions because they aren't experienced enough to know the answers.

    • @Thurgosh_OG
      @Thurgosh_OG Před rokem +1

      They are annoying to many Brits though because of their lacking knowledge of their own money. "There's no note bigger than a £50 note." Well there's the £100 note, still in circulation and printed by some Scottish Banks for a start (the English version was not in circulation for that long but there was one).

  • @05017351
    @05017351 Před rokem +1

    "Spending a penny" comes from the days when public toilets were not free to use. You used to have to pay 1 penny to use them (the door had a coin operated lock). The money used to go towards keeping the toilets clean and in good condition.

  • @veroniquewolff8963
    @veroniquewolff8963 Před rokem +1

    'Spending a penny' in reference to going to the toilet comes from many years back when public toilets would charge a penny so the expression became a polite way of saying that you were going to the toilet and has stuck. Also, we have a £100 note in Scotland, it is just the Bank of England that doesn't make them.

  • @ianm42yt
    @ianm42yt Před rokem +10

    When I visit the States, where all the notes are the same size and colour, I had to look carefully at each one to make sure I gave the right amount to pay for something.

  • @Ann-oi
    @Ann-oi Před rokem +16

    I can't believe they don't know why spend a penny is an unknown origin to them 🤣. It's because it used to cost 1p to use a public toilet, obv to pay the cleaner or person who looks after them. Cost me 30p in Leeds bus station the other week though😳

    • @wulfrunian
      @wulfrunian Před rokem +7

      It used to cost 1d not 1p

    • @Mathemagical55
      @Mathemagical55 Před rokem +5

      They're not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer.

    • @lesjames5191
      @lesjames5191 Před rokem +4

      Kids don't know anything these days.

    • @Thurgosh_OG
      @Thurgosh_OG Před rokem +1

      @@lesjames5191 Those 'kids' are nearing 30 in that video.

    • @nightowl5395
      @nightowl5395 Před rokem

      @@Mathemagical55 I'm not surprised anyone young doesn't know about using an old penny for a public loo....and they seem perfectly intelligent to me....harsh... 😄

  • @leannelow5788
    @leannelow5788 Před 8 měsíci +1

    Before we had the polymer notes, we had paper notes. The serial number for each not was on the same half of the note, this meant that if you tore it in half you could only get the same back as you started with.

  • @greenford251
    @greenford251 Před rokem +2

    10:22 the only coin currently up dated for his majesty King Charles III is the 50p. Fun fact when a new monarchs face is added to British money they face the opposite direction to their predecessor.

  • @tmac160
    @tmac160 Před rokem +20

    Quid comes from the name of the paper mill that provided the paper for the Bank of England's original notes (c1724). The mill is called The Quidhampton Mill at Overton in Hampshire. It's still there now. Quid became a nickname for a pound taken from the name of the mill.

    • @Tarantio1983
      @Tarantio1983 Před rokem +4

      That's one supposed derivation, another is that it comes from the Latin phrase "quid pro quo", quid meaning something... The full phrase being 'something for something' or a fair exchange of goods and services!

    • @tmac160
      @tmac160 Před rokem +1

      @@Tarantio1983 I'm aware of that but it is a bit contrived to be historical and grand whereas it is more likely to be simple. As all things in life, simplest things first. The mill's connection to the BoE and the de Portal family settles it for me. The two 'quids' is coincidental. 😄

    • @heatherfruin5050
      @heatherfruin5050 Před rokem

      Thanks for sharing the history of the quid. 😊

    • @Joanna-il2ur
      @Joanna-il2ur Před rokem

      A quid is a block of tobacco used in pipes, and early pound notes were massive and had to be folded up in your wallet, so it was like a quid of tobacco. I very much doubt that market traders knew much Latin or cared about ancient printers.

  • @celianorris7042
    @celianorris7042 Před rokem +7

    Some public toilets used to have a slot on the door, you would have to put a penny in the slot to open the door to use a toilet, hence spending a penny was the same as saying going to the loo.
    Nowadays some have a barrier you have to pay to get through and now costs 20p 30p 50p.

  • @kgames3563
    @kgames3563 Před rokem +7

    Scotland accepts both english and Irish pound notes but england tends to only accept English notes

    • @IDTV66
      @IDTV66 Před rokem

      Scottish and Northern Irish notes are accepted in England if they say 'Sterling'

    • @neilmcdonald9164
      @neilmcdonald9164 Před rokem +3

      ​@@IDTV66I think when he says not accepted he means in shops:yes,they are legal in England,but you try getting English shops to take them!!🎩

    • @markchambers3833
      @markchambers3833 Před 11 měsíci +2

      The Scottish and NI notes are legal tender everywhere in the UK but a lot of shops in England are reluctant to accept them because they're unfamiliar with them. Probably worried about forgeries.
      NI notes are more of a problem because there are several banks in Northern Ireland with the right to issue notes (Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank, etc.) and they all use different designs. There's only one type of Scottish note.
      It was more difficult when the Republic of Ireland used the Irish Pound (Punt), as many people in England thought the NI notes were Irish currency. Since the RoI adopted the Euro, acceptance of NI notes in England has improved a bit.

    • @kgames3563
      @kgames3563 Před 11 měsíci +1

      @@markchambers3833 scottish notes arent even legal tender in scotland (yes i just looked it up)

    • @aidancolyer7924
      @aidancolyer7924 Před 11 měsíci

      The reason is that they require a different line on a cash form for banking and people are lazy . Added to that people don't know enough about the other notes to identify them clearly.

  • @mickydimos
    @mickydimos Před 9 měsíci +2

    All the notes are different sizes too to aid people with eye issues. Also, they changed to the new indestructible notes as it cost the Royal Mint billions to keep reissuing notes due to old worn out notes having to be replaced. Countries who use ‘polymer notes’ include Canada, Australia (in 1998 btw) New Zealand, Mexico, Fiji, Singapore etc.

  • @elaines.8038
    @elaines.8038 Před rokem +19

    The first time I used dollars when I was 26, I couldn't tell the difference between the notes. To this day, I'm convinced I gave someone a 20 instead of a $1 note and they took it and said nowt.

    • @Rhianalanthula
      @Rhianalanthula Před rokem

      On one trip to the States with work, my husband muddled his notes and didn't hand enough over. Obviously they complained.

    • @Thurgosh_OG
      @Thurgosh_OG Před rokem +1

      First time I went to the States at 13, I was with my Gran. I was basically there to convert prices to pounds for her (I could do it on the hoof), so she knew how much things were costing. It was still a fun holiday.

    • @adyf397
      @adyf397 Před rokem

      Apparently the paper used in all bills is the same...I heard that forgers simply washed off the ink from smaller bills and reprinted them at a higher denomination

    • @c_n_b
      @c_n_b Před rokem

      Little tip: the bills have numbers in the corners ($5, $10, $20, and so on)

    • @jiggely_spears
      @jiggely_spears Před rokem

      What part of Yorkshire are you from Elaine lol?

  • @SyncViews
    @SyncViews Před rokem +12

    I think a big thing with the £1 and £2 coins being used commonly vs the dollar coin is there just isn't a £1 note like there is for a dollar, the smallest note is £5 which is quite a bit of money and many small transactions are for less.
    And generally isn't that common to round up and say keep the change when paying, especially as tipping isn't that common and at pubs, cafes, etc. often pay upfront per drink/item at a time rather than have a tab so lots of small transactions rather than 1 big one.

  • @florrie2303
    @florrie2303 Před rokem +1

    In the UK we have a £5 coin, which like the US Silver dollar, exists but isn't widely used.

  • @bernadettelanders7306
    @bernadettelanders7306 Před 11 měsíci +2

    The first polymer series of Australian banknotes was issued between 1992 and 1996. It was the first in the world to be printed on polymer substrate instead of paper. The first denomination in the eighth series was issued on 1 September 2016.

  • @RB-747
    @RB-747 Před rokem +9

    Quid probably comes from the Latin phrase quid pro quo we think - since it means something for something

  • @thatmarchingarrow
    @thatmarchingarrow Před rokem +53

    There is actually such a thing as a £100 note, but only in Scotland. The Bank of England doesn't make any £100 notes, and even in Scotland they're pretty rare as far as I'm aware.

    • @MrNifts
      @MrNifts Před rokem

      I thought we used to have one on England as well , I seem to remember it being Brown for some reason. maybe we didn't or was that a Scottish one?

    • @ShrubScotland
      @ShrubScotland Před rokem +2

      Can confirm.
      You can use them in a shop, but likely they will go and get the manager over to confirm it’s okay.
      Never tried to use one in England but I guess theoretically it’s possible? Unlikely they will accept it though.

    • @IanDarley
      @IanDarley Před rokem +5

      @@ShrubScotland Scottish £100 notes are legal tender throughout the UK, despite the reluctance and moaning you'll get from the shop.

    • @johnhood2061
      @johnhood2061 Před rokem +3

      @IanDarley Not according to the Bank of England; only Royal Mint coins and Bank of England banknotes are legal tender in England and Wales. Shops do not have to accept Scottish or Northern Irish notes as payment and customers can refuse them in their change.

    • @iriscollins7583
      @iriscollins7583 Před rokem +1

      Spending a penny, Public Toilets used to be locked, you used a Penny Coin to open the door.

  • @DuckNovagon
    @DuckNovagon Před 11 měsíci +3

    13:48 if you look at the coin arrangement for the 5-50, it makes up the royal coat of arms! Also, each coin has a different size/number of sides to make it easier to tell what coin it is when rooting through a purse or smh

  • @Brannas86
    @Brannas86 Před rokem +1

    1p and 2p coins were awesome as a kid as we used to go to the shop and get mix ups (bags of small sweets) for like 5p, 10p, 20p etc so you'd save them up and get a small bag of sweets on the way to or from school. That changed it senior school though as then sweets were no longer 1p each and went quickly over like 5 years to like 5p each. Prob alot more now.

  • @wallythewondercorncake8657

    I'm not the only one who was baffled when he said his grandad gives him £50 in a birthday card, right? I literally said "You toff bastard" out loud when he said that

    • @ebbhead20
      @ebbhead20 Před rokem +4

      Thays what my nan gave all her grandkids for birthday in the 90's. 500 Kroner. My mum got 1000 kroner like the rest of her siblings.. And we're middle class. Nothing fancy going on there.. 😁

    • @vijay-c
      @vijay-c Před rokem +5

      Yep! I always got tenners or twenty if was lucky, lol.

    • @johnp8131
      @johnp8131 Před rokem

      @@ebbhead20 Remember the cost of living differentials too. When I went to Denmark in the late eighties most things were at least 40% or 50% more but.....................earnings there compensated for it. Similar or worse was in Norway etc.......I bought a Burger there, in Andøya in '87, and it was more than £8.00, the same in the UK back then was between £1 and £2.

    • @rachelpenny5165
      @rachelpenny5165 Před rokem +2

      I would get £5 or £10 (occasionally £20) in a birthday card. But my relatives did not have a lot.

    • @elaines.8038
      @elaines.8038 Před rokem +1

      I used to get a fiver in a card and then it was rationed out. Lasted me a couple of months and it still more than doubled my pocket money.

  • @timglennon6814
    @timglennon6814 Před rokem +15

    We used to have a £1 note, when are bank notes were made out of paper, but the £1 note used to rip quite easily, so on 21st April 1983 the £1 note was changed into the £1 coin, and for some reason in 1998 they introduced the £2 coin.
    The 20 pence coin was introduced on the 9th June 1982.
    The £1 £2 coins are used on a daily basis.

    • @stephenhodgson3506
      @stephenhodgson3506 Před rokem +2

      You are probably too young but we also used to have a ten shilling note.

    • @qwadratix
      @qwadratix Před rokem +1

      @@stephenhodgson3506 We also had silver threepenny bits before the brass polygonal ones.

    • @tonys1636
      @tonys1636 Před rokem

      The 20 p came out with the others before 'D' day as the change was known as (not legal tender until) but changed size/shape that year. As has the size of the 5 p 10 p and 50 p all gotten smaller. The 5 and 10 were the same size and weight as the 1/- and 2/- originally so could be kept in circulation together so vending machines could be changed over time and paid in to banks bagged together as £5 silver. The old £sd coins slowly withdrawn before the size change as became underweight or damaged.

    • @mrpotnoodle4160
      @mrpotnoodle4160 Před rokem

      I remember the sweeney 100 pound in one pound notes lol. Anybody remember the half pence coin?

    • @robcrossgrove7927
      @robcrossgrove7927 Před rokem +1

      @@mrpotnoodle4160 Yes. When I left school I worked in a pet/garden shop, and lots of things were priced ending in 1/2p. I also remember the dog license being 37 1/2 p.

  • @markomarten
    @markomarten Před rokem +1

    I want to mention a few things, in some areas cash is still popular as the contactless payment requires a Wi-Fi or internet signal and in some places it’s very difficult to get any phone signal. Some shops offer cash back as there’s not so many bank branches around in rural areas like there used to be. Cash back is handy as the shops are not necessarily keeping extra money on site as it were. In Switzerland you can get a 1000 Franc note and use it but a few places might be reluctant to accept it has such a high value. American money seems a bit like monopoly stuff and it’s a bit weird to thank many folk live on less than 1$ a day in some places. The bank notes will change but it’s not immediate, the images for money and stamps are stock ones and will be agreed before being issued. In practice the notes are legal tender so no problem there, there’s also the associated industry of machines taking and issuing notes. The features built in have to be included in any update that the machine dispensers have. Not much changes straight away but some changes are more important than others, all politicians have to swear their allegiance to The Monarch. The day to day stuff is automatic. There used to ships that came to the UK with goods from across the globe and some of their phrases probably got absorbed into daily life. I personally keep a small amount of coins to the value of around £5 so I can buy milk and a jar of instant coffee. If I have any thing over it goes in a money bag and I pay it into a Magic Money machine at my bank, I have a contactless card with around £20 and use that to avoid too much change. The different sizes are supposed to represent their value but with the 1p coin and 5P you would have a job to know. There was a time you went to a public toilet and inserted a penny so you could use the cubicle,so that’s probably where that came from. The Red phone boxes used to accept a 2p or 10p coin and that’s why we had them. 2p for local and 10 for elsewhere. You can check this out on CZcams.

  • @TinaCBR750
    @TinaCBR750 Před rokem +1

    The older pound notes are actually made from denim and not paper, also you can get special edition coins for example 50p coins sometimes have different pictures on like Paddington bear, and other fun pictures

  • @GazGaryGazza
    @GazGaryGazza Před rokem +9

    You can actually get £5 coins that are issued for special occasions but you'd have to order or specifically buy one from a bank or through mail order. Most people normally save them although they are legal tender and can be spent. Spend a penny relates to the charge to access public toilets 40+ years ago when you'd put a penny in the cubicle door to give you access.

    • @OnlyGrafting
      @OnlyGrafting Před rokem

      And now you'd be lucky if it were merely a penny to get into they damned toilets. Some places 20p, I've seen some charging £1. If you find yourself at such a toilet please hold the door/gate open for anyone behind because it's fucking ridiculous.

  • @blah......4970
    @blah......4970 Před rokem +20

    Few points:
    All the notes they showed are Bank of England notes, which is the most used in England and Wales.
    In Scotland, we also have notes from the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland (separate banks, not a typing error) and the Clydesdale Bank.
    In Northern Ireland there's notes Danske Bank and one or two other that I don't remember the names of at the moment.
    All of them are Sterling, which is the currency, and are legal tender across all of the U.K.
    However, it's really, really, reaaaaaaaalllllllly f****** common for people in England to be completely unaware of any of banks other than the Bank of England, and to treat any notes from a Sterling currency bank other than the Bank of England as being fake note (I'm from Scotland and have family in England. This thing with the notes is so, f******, annoying).
    You'll find that all notes are readily accepted in Scotland, and although I've never been to Northern or Wales, I used to work retail and in pubs for years and I've been told plenty of times by folk from those countries that they know about Scottish and Northern Irish money and readily accept them without any issues.
    This thing with the notes also happens outside of the U.K. Twice while abroad I've had Royal Bank of Scotland notes and have tried to change them to the local currency and I was rejected because they weren't "British notes", even though they LITERALLY ARE AND STERLING JUST THE SAME AS THE BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES. * sigh *

    • @Rhianalanthula
      @Rhianalanthula Před rokem

      When i worked in a pub as a student, the landlady told us that Scottish notes and coins were valid currency, which we could accept. Manx coins from the Ilse of Man, was not legal tender so we couldn't accept it. Never saw currency from Northern Ireland, but I'd probably have checked. I can't remember about currency from the Channel Islands. I have seen the odd coins from Guernsey about 30 years ago, but I don't know if it's legal tender or not.

    • @tmac160
      @tmac160 Před rokem +2

      Bank notes, by definition, are not legal tender. Neither English nor Scottish. Anywhere.

    • @barneylaurance1865
      @barneylaurance1865 Před rokem

      @@Rhianalanthula Manx money isn't sterling, it's a separate currency which has its value pegged to the value of sterling. The Isle of Man is not part of the UK.

    • @TheGarryq
      @TheGarryq Před rokem +1

      @@tmac160 Bank of England notes are legal tender in England and Wales. No other banknotes are. The only money legal tender for any amount in the UK are coins over £1 issued by the Royal Mint

    • @MrBulky992
      @MrBulky992 Před rokem +1

      Confusingly, some of the Northern Irish notes are issued by the Bank of Ireland UK plc and these are headed "Bank of Ireland", giving the misleading impression that they might originate from the Republic of Ireland.

  • @tonyeden2944
    @tonyeden2944 Před 9 měsíci +1

    These bank notes are polymer and they really do keep their pristine condition. What was not mentioned is that in the top left hand corner there are brail marks. The £10 notes is a little larger than the £5 note then the £20 larger than the £10 note and I presume the £50 note will be the largest. This makes it very easy to find a note in your wallet and unlike the USA bill which are all virtually identical in both size and almost in colour, it is much easier to spend money. A great shame that. We used to have a £1 note but these days the £1 and £2 coins are perfect. Unlike most USA supermarkets, the UK ones require a £1 or €1 coin inserted to get a shopping trolley, popping out when you return the trolley to its bay. This mitigates people just abandoning their trolley when they have loaded up or walked away with the completed shopping.
    Oddly we call supermarkets and large department buildings "stores" but all others are "shops" - the American term for a workshop. So we go "shopping". Up to £100 virtually all shopping is by contactless credit card or very frequently cash and that is where our coins come in handy. Though used for £100 or over, the use of PIN numbers went out a long while ago and the younger generation will never have heard of cheques or signing for use of a credit card. Indeed the USA term "paycheck" is completely meaningless to us. I am 83 and never in my working life have I come across anyone who has received their wages or salary by cheque. My first wages in 1957 when straight into my Hight Street bank account and in all those years I have never had to pay bank charges. I think it must have been at least 25 years since I wrote a cheque.

  • @trufflesnuffle3108
    @trufflesnuffle3108 Před rokem +1

    I like the notes being slightly different sizes because it makes it easier to have £20s at the back, then 10s and 5s as they don't overlap and you can grab the one you want easier

  • @austinfallen
    @austinfallen Před rokem +7

    I remember when we used to have 1 pound notes. I got a small windfall, and just to be cheeky (I was a kid) I went into the bank and asked for £250 in pound notes. Felt great lol

    • @RobTheSquire
      @RobTheSquire Před rokem

      In Scotland the £1 note was in use to fairly recently

  • @DoomsdayR3sistance
    @DoomsdayR3sistance Před rokem +4

    There is no £1 or £2 bank notes, so the coins are very much used.
    I didn't hear it in the video but Alan Turing is on the £50 note. So Winston Churchill for £5, Jane Austin for £10, JMW Turner for £20 and Alan Turing for £50.

  • @mrj9585
    @mrj9585 Před 8 měsíci +1

    Brits say "quid" due to its origins, possibly rooted in "quid pro quo" or linked to Quidhampton, a village in England with a Royal Mint paper mill. Its simplicity and distinctiveness made it popular, and it became synonymous with the pound sterling, gaining cultural significance over centuries.

  • @user-gm4vh9lp8c
    @user-gm4vh9lp8c Před rokem +1

    I grew up in Scotland,i think our money is pretty straight forward for the most part,we used to have a half pence and they did away with that.Spending a penny,means going to the toilet,they are probably meaning that a while back,you used to have to put a coin in the door of a public bathroom to use the toilet,just like some places you have to put a quarter in the shopping cart at certain grocery stores and you have to bring the cart back to get your quarter back,but you didn't get your coin back at the public bathroom.There is some parts of England that will tell you they won't except our Scottish money and you pretty much have to fight with them and tell them it's legal tender and you need to accept it,they don't think Scottish money is real currency,thanks again for your video Tyler,made me think of home.

  • @AdrianWright6363
    @AdrianWright6363 Před rokem +3

    Incidentally, bank notes are not actually money; they are merely representations of money, or tokens, showing an amount promised. All British bank notes (bills in the US) say on them "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of [value of note]". Coins, on the other hand, are actual money.

  • @rpmillam
    @rpmillam Před rokem +9

    It's easier now it used to be 12 pennies to a Shilling and 20 shillings to a pound.

    • @Established1965
      @Established1965 Před rokem

      Yes my first novel was set in Kent in 1840 i had to learn all about shillings !! Having grown up with decimal it was a learning curve x

    • @AndrewCusworth
      @AndrewCusworth Před rokem

      pounds, Shillings and pence are before my time, however i find it interesting that a pound of silver was used to mint 240 pennies

    • @iangordon5354
      @iangordon5354 Před rokem

      And 21 shillings in a guinea

  • @susanmullen5105
    @susanmullen5105 Před rokem +1

    The Scottish bank notes have Scottish historical figures on them, & animals too (like otters!). I love the Scottish £10, as there is a beach scene from my home town, with the church my parents & Sister got married in! 😍 (The astronomer & mathematician Mary Somerville was born & raised in my home town...she's the £10 note famous person!!)

  • @somthingbrutal
    @somthingbrutal Před rokem +1

    for a while there was an overlap where england had stopped using £1 notes but scotland still was, this did lead to a fun time when if you spent a pound note in england there was a good chance they would give you change as if you spent £5. the different currency is a hangover from before scotland joined the UK, scotland also has a separate legal system

  • @timglennon6814
    @timglennon6814 Před rokem +3

    They say the Scottish and the Northern Irish bank notes are legal tender, but you try talking one of those notes into a shop In England. They point blank refuse them, and say, ‘Its not legal tender’.

    • @140cabins
      @140cabins Před rokem +1

      And strictly speaking the people in the shops are correct - but I think you've been unlucky. Most places will take them, an inexperienced cashier might never have seen one and have to ask their manager first though.

    • @avaggdu1
      @avaggdu1 Před rokem

      It's entirely up to the discretion of the shop. They are not forced to accept any currency if they don't want to, for any reason. In England, the only 'legal tender' is English notes and Royal Mint coins. Even 1 and 2p coins are only legal tender up to a value of 20p, so if you try an act of petty defiance by paying bills in 1p coins, it can be refused point blank and there's sod all you can do about it.

  • @brian9731
    @brian9731 Před rokem +4

    I was once travelling to the USA and changed £100 into US$ at Chicago O'Hare. Back then, it should have given me $159 plus some small change. The American teller counted out $155 and then was supposed to count out the final 4 $1 bills but instead didn't look properly and gave me 4 more $10 bills. I didn't notice at all because I was jet lagged and she was counting quickly. When I got to my final destination, I looked properly and realised the exchange rate was VERY much in my favour for the time - $195 for £100!

  • @mikerayland
    @mikerayland Před rokem +1

    Public WC used to use a slot that you would put a penny in to open the door.

  • @Fifury161
    @Fifury161 Před 9 měsíci +1

    16:53 - "a lot of this is digital now" - this is the main reason why they got rid of the £100 note, Also burning money is not illegal in the UK (defacing it is though!) The band KLF famously burnt £1M back in 1994.
    As for the coins - they showed the layout of the coins that forms a shield. Also worth noting that only notes issued by the Bank of England are considered "legal tender" (other UK banks that issue their own notes do so under the Bank Charter). Coins are issued by the Royal Mint and they make local variations and special editions on the £1 & £2 coins.
    Also worth noting that coins from Guernsey, Jersey & Isle of Man (Sterling) are often used interchangeably, although not officially "legal tender" in the UK.

  • @MichaelG_UK
    @MichaelG_UK Před rokem +8

    The £20 and £50 notes have now also been replaced with plastic versions and the old paper ones went out of circulation at the end of last year. The new notes with King Charles have been released as designs but won't go into full circulation until next year and even then the versions with the Queen on will still be legal tender for some time after that.

    • @1234_Flux
      @1234_Flux Před rokem +2

      I don't want Charles on the money. 😫

    • @ajones684
      @ajones684 Před rokem

      Also, King Charles will appear on the new currency, WITHOUT a crown!

    • @JOHNSMITH-if9jr
      @JOHNSMITH-if9jr Před rokem

      @@ajones684 why?

    • @2_the_moon_and_back
      @2_the_moon_and_back Před rokem

      The 50 pence with king charles has been released

  • @knockshinnoch1950
    @knockshinnoch1950 Před rokem +3

    When visiting the US its easy to mix up the banknotes as they are so similar- whereas in the UK and other nations different colours are used to denote different denominations- blue for 5 and brown for 10

  • @MrVidification
    @MrVidification Před rokem +1

    I recently heard the term 'In for a penny, in for a pound' on a US show, although wasn't sure of the exact meaning. There are a lot of collectors on here with the limited edition 50p coins featuring paddington bear, sherlock holmes and other imagery along with other collectables, including coins and notes from the US and elsewhere

  • @glenmartin7978
    @glenmartin7978 Před 9 měsíci +1

    Pence is instead of saying Penny's, Quid is a slang term for Pound or Pound's for more than 1 pound.
    When my parents and grandparents were young, we had coins that are no longer used today like the old Penny (or Ship Penny), Halfpenny, Farthing, Threepence, Sixpence, Half Sixpence, Shilling, Crown, Half Crown, Florin, The One Pound was a Huge Note not a coin, and the coins were much bigger than they are now and different shapes these were changed over the years mainly to prevent forgery and the fact that some were pre Decimal and others Post Decimal coinage

  • @lottie2525
    @lottie2525 Před rokem +4

    You always have to have a pound coin in your purse/wallet to put in the supermarket trollies to release them. So yes, you definitely need them.

  • @Coggzz
    @Coggzz Před rokem +3

    A £20 note can also get called a ‘score’. It’s from units of measure before £ notes were invented.

  • @SpiritmanProductions
    @SpiritmanProductions Před rokem +2

    'Quid' always remains singular, whereas 'pound' doesn't. Ten pounds = ten quid. But, as with other qualifying nouns, 'pound' is also singular in 'ten-pound note'.
    Edit after watching the rest of the video: Did they do _any_ research? 'Spend a penny', for instance, is a really simple thing to google. 🤦‍♂

  • @MostlyPennyCat
    @MostlyPennyCat Před 11 měsíci +1

    "Why are coins 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1?"
    Because it's _the minimum set of denominations that permit any fraction of 100 pence to be represented by the smallest number of coins._
    It's the most efficient the system can be.

  • @sarahealey1780
    @sarahealey1780 Před rokem +29

    Fun fact: at some grocery stores, if you want a shopping cart, you have to put a pound coin in the trolly to release it from the row, you get the pound back when you return it, so you can't be lazy and just leave it anywhere 😉

    • @MrBulky992
      @MrBulky992 Před rokem +1

      The samd applies with lockers in sports gyms.

    • @charlesdanaa8514
      @charlesdanaa8514 Před rokem +4

      Also to stop kids from throwing them in lakes and whatnot. They bloody love doing that.

    • @heatherfruin5050
      @heatherfruin5050 Před rokem +1

      Yes, Aldi in Australia do that.😊

    • @blondebrandy
      @blondebrandy Před rokem

      Used a penny to get in public toilets. Hence spending a penny.

  • @revbenf6870
    @revbenf6870 Před rokem +3

    There are a few US slang terns, dime and greenbacks come to mind. Canadians often call their dollars "loonies". I bought something in Vancouver and was told it was just a loonie, I had no clue what they meant!

    • @frankhooper7871
      @frankhooper7871 Před rokem +2

      And a "toonie" for the two-dollar coin.

    • @revbenf6870
      @revbenf6870 Před rokem

      @@frankhooper7871 makes sense, guess I just have go back for a longer stay to pick up more slang!!

  • @connie7224
    @connie7224 Před rokem +1

    Most simple transactions in England , like buying sweets or something like that, use coins with one and two quid being used most commonly . So yes, they are used very commonly.

  • @kapiti
    @kapiti Před 10 měsíci +1

    British pound sterling, sometimes known as the British pound (GBP), is the official currency of the United Kingdom (U.K.). It is commonly accepted that the Latin phrase "quid pro quo," which means "something for something" or an equal trade for goods or services, is the source of the 100-pence unit known as a quid.

  • @Ivanhoe076
    @Ivanhoe076 Před rokem +5

    "Spending a penny" dates from many years ago, when public toilets had locks which required you to insert a penny coin into them before you could open the door to enter. Also, they are wrong about being able to use Scottish or Northern Irish notes in England, it used to be acceptable to use Scottish notes, but is no longer, and shops in England have never accepted Northern Irish notes (As I know from personal experience, having travelled between Northern Ireland and England regulary at one time) Any Bank will exchange the notes for English ones however.

    • @fionagregory9147
      @fionagregory9147 Před rokem

      Now it costs 20p to use a public loo.

    • @AviatorCameron
      @AviatorCameron Před rokem +1

      ​@@fionagregory9147 It has been many years since ive seen anywhere where you have had to pay to go for a piss

    • @Thurgosh_OG
      @Thurgosh_OG Před rokem

      I've never had a problem using Scottish notes in England to this day. Being a Scotsman living in the south of England, my family down here gets Scottish notes in cards and we get them from visiting family in Scotland. Younger cashiers sometimes need a supervisor/manager to 'help' them but they always accept them, so your point on that is not correct. N.Irish notes though, are generally not accepted on the Mainland at all.

    • @Thurgosh_OG
      @Thurgosh_OG Před rokem

      @@fionagregory9147 Only in stations and possibly London. Public toilets in general though are free to use.

    • @fionagregory9147
      @fionagregory9147 Před rokem +1

      @@AviatorCameron you do have to pay in Exeter so there.

  • @RileyELFuk
    @RileyELFuk Před rokem +4

    £20 notes have been updated since that video. Charles currency hasn't appeared yet. Another security feature on top of the plastic windowed notes and holograms, they also have elements that light up under a UV light. You were correct, the different sizes of the notes are so that the sight impaired can easily differentiate the notes and they also have braille markings. She was wrong btw, the copper coloured coins are now steel, as a magnet would demonstrate. The newer 2 colour £1 coins were brought in as the old ones were so easy to counterfeit, it was thought that at one point, almost 50% of those in circulation were fake. Scottish money is not technically legal tender in England, but there is a standing agreement between the banks to exchange them.
    Never underestimate the number of names for British money. People of a certain age may still use terms from pre-decimalisation i.e. 5p can be called a shilling, or a bob. 50p is 10 bob etc. 10p is 2 bob, or a florin, but to be fair, you're likely to confuse anyone under 50 with those terms. Fortunately many other coins no longer exist, so they're unlikely to be confused by a tanner etc.

    • @ED11116
      @ED11116 Před rokem +1

      Charles is on a new 50p pieces atm, and rolling out more

    • @razor1uk610
      @razor1uk610 Před rokem +1

      ^^ pin & highlight the above comment

    • @RileyELFuk
      @RileyELFuk Před rokem

      @@ED11116 I've not seen any yet, but I'll keep an eye out for them.

    • @ED11116
      @ED11116 Před rokem

      @@RileyELFuk They’ve really made his ears A LOT smaller on them!!

    • @RileyELFuk
      @RileyELFuk Před rokem

      @@ED11116 Heh! Lucky they didn't have to deal with his sausage fingers.

  • @katrinabryce
    @katrinabryce Před rokem +2

    The smallest note in the UK (outside of Scotland) is £5, which is about $6, so yes, coins get used more. Though these days, I almost never take any money out with me, because I know I can pay for everything with Apple Pay. King Charles notes will be coming out in the middle of next year. King Charles coins were apparently released about 3 months ago, though I haven't seen one, because I haven't paid for anything with physical cash in about the past 4 years.

  • @user-yk1cf8qb7q
    @user-yk1cf8qb7q Před 5 měsíci

    In the past in public toilets (bathrooms to an American) the doors to the cubicles had a coin slot which took an old penny to open the lock (not the urinals, they were free), so everyone always carried a few old pennies which were much larger than nowadays in case they needed to use a toilet, so the phrase "I need to spend a penny" meant I need to use the toilet. The term 'Pound Sterling' is used to differentiate between the pound in money terms and the pound as a measure of weight. Also, our standard for silver as in jewellery etc is 'Sterling Silver' Which is 92.5% silver + copper, this is to make it harder as silver is a rather soft metal and originally our silver coins were made from Sterling silver to the value of the coin, but that was ended in 1947 when money became devalued.

  • @timtreefrog9646
    @timtreefrog9646 Před rokem +3

    Put one of each British coin together and it makes a shield. You can buy the shield sets. Kazaa.
    EDIT: Beef tallow is used in the notes, so they are neither veggie nor vegan.

    • @razor1uk610
      @razor1uk610 Před rokem +1

      *_"Ooh noooo, the poor poor plant killing more extreme members of that sect will cry..."_*
      Good !
      The best of vegetarian & vegan food & recipes can always be boosted & improved with good/high quality properly cooked meat or meats, for the best of both omnivorous taste & balanced health.
      Those of whom who are extremisticly leaning within the veganism are just Veganatzis IMHO.
      I love vegan and vegetarian food, but without a medical restriction upon my diet, why should my low amount of meat, fish & bird intake be curtailed by fundamentalist plantists?!
      Sorry for the wall of text, I got sarcastically triggered.

    • @TheGarryq
      @TheGarryq Před rokem

      @@razor1uk610 Especially as during the entire lifetime of all of the first series of polymer notes issued will need the tallow of just one and a half cows. Miniscule.

  • @Mark-yk1ny
    @Mark-yk1ny Před rokem +3

    I think you will find old British money interesting 👍

  • @somthingbrutal
    @somthingbrutal Před rokem +1

    we used to have half penny coins as well but they were removed in 1984, Treasury had argued that the halfpenny was important in the fight against inflation but were overruled

  • @ianross3199
    @ianross3199 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Many of our prices in England end at 99p so if you buy a magazine at £4.99 you would use 4 one pound coins, a 50p coin and a combination of 10p or 20p coins to get the £4.90 then use a 5p and 2p or 1p coins to make up the 9 pence which means that you don't end up with lots of pennies in your coin purse.

  • @GRAHAM2109
    @GRAHAM2109 Před rokem +4

    I try and use cash as much as I can. I don't support a cashless society

  • @SilvanaDil
    @SilvanaDil Před rokem +3

    Yes, it's "boring" being the global reserve currency....

    • @t.a.k.palfrey3882
      @t.a.k.palfrey3882 Před rokem +4

      While the US is certainly by far the biggest reserve currency, it isn't the only one. 21 percent of foreign currency reserves are held in Euros, about five percent each in Yen and Sterling, and between two and three percent each in Canadian $, Australian $, and Renminbi. In fact, the share held today in US$ is the lowest for over 30 years.

    • @thatmarchingarrow
      @thatmarchingarrow Před rokem +2

      The US dollar's importance doesn't make its design more interesting, and I'm pretty sure he was talking about the design.

    • @RB-747
      @RB-747 Před rokem

      What use is a reserve currency when it isn't the currency of trade though?

  • @otps8035
    @otps8035 Před 11 měsíci

    18:44 is because for public toilets you often have to pay to use them like at the beach on Weston Super Mare and it used to be 1 penny. In 1851 the Great Exhibition took place in Hyde Park, London. The refreshment rooms featured public conveniences for which a small charge was made. By the time the exhibition closed over 800,000 visitors had paid more than £2,000 for use of the facilities. And so was born the concept of ‘spending a penny’ to use the loo.

  • @jono_cc2258
    @jono_cc2258 Před rokem +1

    On the coins thing, yeah coins are still used for small transactions things like vending machines or in a small corner shop when picking up a couple of items.
    Big plus for UK coins is the shapes, especially the 50p and 20p, makes them very distinctive, the 10p and 5p are thinner and for £1 is much thicker, the £2 being larger than the £1 and just as thick, pretty intuitive really.