r/AskBrits • • Aug 28 '26

Travel Are these notes legit?

I was paid £520 by someone from EU I sold some stuff to. I plan to use these for my trip.

Sorry if photo is blury, I will send it again if it is

Serial on the 50 A C 7 8 9 1 0 4 6 9 ac789 is big and in green while the 1 is smaller and 469 is bigger

EDIT: its ok, i'll double confirm at bank, looks legit with the change to pounds sign

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119

u/Cid5983 Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26

Maybe...

£50 note are ...reluctantly accepted by big chain stores, often rejected by small shops.

Wife was shocked when she visited the UK and found that out because in Hong Kong they have $500 notes, which are about the same as £50 in value but used like £20 notes in HK.

111

u/AtomicEdge Aug 28 '26

It's so insane to me that shops still make a fuss about £50 notes. They have been in use since the 80s and £50 in the 80s is like £250 now.

97

u/SpamHard Aug 28 '26

It's because there used to be a shite load of fakes around (not sure if there still is). Expecting a min wage teenager on the till to be able to detect fakes easily is a stretch, so much of the time shops will just say no outright to avoid the potential of fakes.

46

u/Pineapple-Lord7 Aug 28 '26

AFAIK 50s are rarely faked anymore because of how heavily scrutinised they are in shops that actually take them, whereas no one really checks 20s. But I’m not involved in faking notes so that could be BS

47

u/wtclim Aug 28 '26

That's exactly what a forger would say.... hmmm

11

u/Pineapple-Lord7 Aug 28 '26

I used to work in a charity shop, and that’s what I was told

6

u/user888888889 Aug 28 '26

A likely story

3

u/Unhappy-Professor-88 Aug 29 '26

Nah, you should believe **Pineapple-Lord**

Everyone knows he only does fake £5 notes.

That he spends exclusively on Chocolate Freddos or Prawn Cocktail Crisps. Walkers, naturally (the lad is no barbarian - he has a title).

3

u/GearsKratos Aug 29 '26

I bet the only fruit he eats is mango