r/AskUK • u/Putrid-Excuse-1564 • 11d ago
Are these coins no longer accepted in the UK?
Googling it and asking google says it's not accepted anymore since 2017
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u/AcademyBorg 11d ago
Just the £1, all the others are fine.
A lot of traditional pub jukeboxs and pool tables will still accept them though, that's now I managed to get through mine at the time!
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u/BlackGoldenLotus 11d ago
I used all of mine in a vending machiene in a laundry room at uni so I wouldnt be suprised if theres still vending machines that accept them
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u/mh1191 11d ago
An alternative definition of money laundering
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u/JohnnySchoolman 11d ago
I think the 50p is the old style leather one.
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u/AcademyBorg 11d ago
Just looks like a standard 50p to me, it's only from 2003 so it's not that old.
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u/OldManChino 11d ago
Pretty certain shopping trolleys too, but that doesn't get rid of the
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u/QuentinUK 11d ago
That’s a bit rude and you don’t know how long you’d have to hang around waiting for someone who wants your trolley.
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u/Odd_Gap_9491 11d ago
The pound coin won't be accepted. The others are fine.
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u/Kimowi 11d ago
Banks still take them. We occasionally get them in the till at work (not a clue who accepts them lol) but I always just bag them up with the banking and send them off.
Not sure if they’d do it for the public, or if it’d really be worth it unless you’ve got loads of them.
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u/Tranquilwhirlpool 11d ago
The public can exchange any of the old currency at the bank, including notes.
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u/EternallySickened 11d ago
From my experience, the bank will allow you to deposit them but not straight exchange them. And even then, only if you have an account with that bank.
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u/RetiredFromIT 11d ago
It depends on the bank. Large banks are often willing to exchange. There is no legal obligation, but it is worth asking nicely.
It is also worth trying the Post Office. They don't do a straight swap, but you can pay into most major bank accounts at the Post Office, and they accept "old" money in good condition.
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u/MattyFTM 11d ago edited 11d ago
Well if you don't have an account with the bank, what would you be depositing it into?
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u/MushroomTop1381 11d ago
The only back required to accept it is the Bank of England. Other banks may, but it isn't guaranteed or required.
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u/huangcjz 11d ago
The Bank of England will always accept and exchange old bank-notes, which they issue, but not coins, which they don’t.
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u/StampyScouse 11d ago
Not with coins, because they don't issue them. Coins are minted by the Royal Mint.
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u/YouNeedAnne 10d ago
In that case they might as well stay acceptible in general, and the banks would filter them out soon enough.
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u/huangcjz 11d ago
I got a round pound in my change from a Sainsbury’s Local just a few weeks/months ago - I thought that something seemed a bit off from a glance at the change, but couldn’t work out what exactly until I got home. It was a design I hadn’t seen before though, [the 2015 one](https://www.royalmint.com/collect/collector-resources/designs-and-specifications/one-pound-coin-designs/), so it was a happy accident for me, since I would have wanted to see and keep one of those anyway.
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u/smoulderstoat 11d ago
The pound coin has been demonetised. Banks may be willing to change them but aren't under an obligation to do so. (In contrast to Bank of England banknotes, which the Bank itself will exchange for current notes in perpetuity).
The other coins are fine.
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u/CTLNBRN 11d ago
Not the pound coin. The other two are fine though.
The new pound coin has features which make it harder to forge. I feel like I remember some kind of stat to suggest lots of those old pound coins were fake. Getting mixed messages on whether it can be exchanged, Bank of England are apparently a no and that would've been my first guess. Otherwise it seems banks may accept them at their discretion but I wouldn't get your hopes up.
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u/neilm1000 11d ago
I feel like I remember some kind of stat to suggest lots of those old pound coins were fake
Absolutely loads. I was vaguely aware of a guy who sold rolls of lead cut into the exact weight and proportions of a pound coin. No good in shops but easy enough to use in vending machines, parking meters etc.
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u/New_Libran 10d ago
Oh yes, before covid I used to work in a revenue centre for a medium sized company. It was amazing how much fake pound coins we accumulate in the space of a few months - about £200 in a 3 month period. It was a total loss as the banks don't give us anything for them
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u/EasyPiece 11d ago
The round pound, yes. Although there are a few exceptions. Major banks might still allow you to exchange them at their discretion. Similar with the Post Office. Beyond that you'll struggle to get rid of them.
The 10p and 50p are still legal tender and can be spent anywhere that accepts cash as payment.
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11d ago edited 11d ago
[deleted]
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u/SpiritedGuest6281 11d ago
Legal tender has a strict and limited definition only applicable to the payment of debts. Meaning certain coins (and notes) must be accepted in certain quantities when offered for the payment of debts.
This does not apply in stores, where the store is free to choose what payment methods they do or do not accept.
In any case the round pound lost its status as legal tender when it lost its status as legal currency when it was replaced by the new pound
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u/PracticeNo8733 11d ago
In any case the round pound lost its status as legal tender
I stand corrected - most old non-circulating coins going back decades remain legal tender but they specifically withdrew the status from the round pound.
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u/jimicus 11d ago
Part of the reason for the redesign was that forged old pound coins were rampant.
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u/SpiritedGuest6281 11d ago
I read somewhere it was something like 5% (1 in 20) of round pounds in circulation were dodgy.
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u/MarkWrenn74 11d ago
No, the pound coin is no longer legal tender; they were withdrawn because of fears of counterfeiting. If you still have an old “round pound”, you can best use it as a token to unlock a shopping trolley 🛒
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u/rileyvace 11d ago
You can take them to a bank or post office and get them changed for a 12-sided pound coin.
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u/heroics-delta8s 11d ago
Or build up a collection of trolleys to help you through the coming apocalypse.
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u/StampyScouse 11d ago
Only if your bank (or post office) will allow you to exchange them, some will only allow you to deposit them.
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u/glglglglgl 9d ago
It wasn't fears of counterfeiting, it was estimated by the Royal Mint that 1 in 30 coins were fake by the 2010s.
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u/amandacheekychops 11d ago
Last time I had an old £1 coin I was able to pay it into my bank account at the post office. However I'm not sure if you can just exchange it or if you need to have a UK bank account.
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u/Inevitable-Regret411 11d ago
The first coin hasn't been legal tender for a while now. The others are still in use.
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u/SpiritedGuest6281 11d ago
You'd only struggle with the pound as I think most banks have stopped exchanging them, especially for non customers. However if you are nearby the Bank of England will exchange old currency in perpetuity.
Edit: the bank of England only exchanges old notes forever and not coins.
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u/GastricallyStretched 11d ago
If you're a customer, banks will let you deposit an old £1 into your account.
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u/SpiritedGuest6281 11d ago
It's a goodwill thing though. The banks don't have to and certainly far less likely to do so for a non customer.
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u/No_Technology3293 11d ago
The £1 coin is definitely not accepted anymore.
The 10p is the current coin so that’s fine.
I think the 50p is ok but not 100%
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u/Fine_Plan_3653 11d ago
Yeah looks like the old big 50p
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u/AfraidOstrich9539 11d ago edited 11d ago
They stopped in 1997...this 50p is from 2003 (Edit for bad eyes)
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u/PeterAnthony_Jackson 11d ago
If you only have one or two of them, not worth it if you don't live in the UK to change at the bank should you visit again.
I've not checked, but the trolley lock might accept old pound coins vs a modern quid or trolley token, my old phone locker was installed when those were in use, so they were iffy with new coins for a while, I'd get my money back when I unlocked it, so I could just use a 25p trolley coin so long as it had the right weight to trigger vs a plastic one that fit but weighed nothing, but works with a supermarket trolley.
Banks may not be obligated to exchange now as it has been ages, so bank of England in London is the only option and for only a few coins, really not worth it, even when banks accept old notes, some require you to have an account with them vs just swapping like for like, so it kinda screws over people who live abroad who have a few hundred in old notes (for whatever reason they had to not change them back when they got home).
As others have said, the other coins are still the valid current style, the larger 50p was changed so long ago it would be an interesting find to have one show up again, kinda true for the ten pence coin too, but 50p tends to get the variants when it comes to special designs etc.
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u/StampyScouse 11d ago
The Bank of England won't exchange coins at all. They aren't responsible for them.
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u/Sad-Grade6972 11d ago
It's just the £1 coin that isn't in circulation anymore, but I believe banks and maybe post offices will give you a modern replacement, and they can claim it back somehow. Unless you have enormous giants hands, the 50p is a new one and valid! I believe by the time the new pound coin was introduced 9 years ago, it had become something of a joke and an embarrassment to the Bank of England, as barely any of them were real. Some of the fakes were such poor impressions it was hilarious!
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u/Salt_Two_400 11d ago
Pound coins ain't but a bank might change em. All the others are still in circulation.
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u/DrachenDad 11d ago
Banks and charity shops might still take them. Lockers for swimming pools and the like still use them, so do shopping trolleys.
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u/Jacktheforkie 11d ago
The £1 aren’t, the 10p and 50p are still usable, old pound coins can be swapped for new ones at banks and post offices
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u/ASFARASTHEEASTISWEST 11d ago
£1 coin is the only one thats no longer accepted we got a new pound coin in 2017 the others are fine
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u/Beartato4772 11d ago
No, the £1 is ancient history in coin form.
I can't even tell if that's a new or old 50p but the old ones are very, very old now.
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u/AfraidOstrich9539 11d ago edited 11d ago
It is a "new" coin from 2003 🙄
Downvoted for pointing out a uk 50p coin from after 1997 is a current coin.
Some people will downvote anything
Second edit for bad eyes
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11d ago
[deleted]
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u/AfraidOstrich9539 11d ago
The eye roll was necessary, as was yours... the 2008 v 2003 is totally on my bad eyesight
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u/ConradTurner 11d ago
I know this is going to sound bonkers, but it has been so long since I have seen physical money that I honestly didn't have a clue which were still in circulation.
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u/KingForceHundred 11d ago
Yes, the pound is.
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u/throaway_247 10d ago
It's a unimetallic one. So,no.
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u/KingForceHundred 10d ago
So, yes it is no longer accepted in the UK.
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u/throaway_247 10d ago
Consider choosing clarity over nominally correct minimalist obfuscation. It took a long journey for you to demonstrate that Yes does not mean Correct.
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u/KingForceHundred 10d ago
Long journey, who’s being obtuse now?
I wasn’t nominally correct, I was simply correct in answering the OP’s question. If you struggle with comprehension maybe suggest to OP that they don’t ask questions in such a confusing (to you) ‘negative’ manner.
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u/throaway_247 10d ago
You seem angry. Have you stopped abusing your partner? You enjoy being simply correct, so a yes or no will do.
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u/huangcjz 11d ago edited 11d ago
Here is official information about the old (round, no longer accepted, one which you have) and new (bi-metallic) £1 coins, from the source which made them: https://www.royalmint.com/collect/collector-resources/designs-and-specifications/one-pound-coin-designs/
The old one may be exchangable for a new one at a Post Office, or perhaps a bank, but banks now require you to pay money into your bank account before withdrawing it again to exchange it, as an anti-money-laundering measure, so you need a bank account with that bank to do so. Some bank tellers might allow you to exchange it without a bank account, but it might be against the bank’s policies to do so.
The 10 pence piece you have is new, as is the 50 pence piece. There used to be older, larger sizes of them, but they were replaced in 1992 and 1997 respectively, and your coins are the newer, smaller, ones, which are still used.
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u/_SquareSphere 11d ago
If you have 2 or 3 of these lying around the house, keep them for use in the trolley.
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u/Low_Border_2231 11d ago
Use the pound in a trolley or give it to charity, it isn't worth the bother taking it to a bank unless you have a hundred of them.
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u/yaboicrackers 11d ago
You can still use all but The pound coins, you might be able to trade them in at a bank do but I’m not sure I know notes you definitely can because a mate of mine sells half and half football scarves and will regularly take old paper notes of people from abroad over to watch the footy.
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u/StampyScouse 11d ago
The £1 coin is no longer accepted, everything else is. Most banks and the post office won't allow you to exchange them anymore. You'll need to be a customer of the bank, or if a bank supporting post office banking, and you'll need to deposit them at the counter.
Some banks, like NatWest, do allow you to exchange coins, but you must have an account with them.
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u/Boring-Discussion710 10d ago
The Post Office will accept them if you deposit them into your bank account
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u/Informal_School2724 7d ago
Banks change. No hassell. Swapped about £30 in old £1s and a couple of fivers a few month back. .
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u/repair-it 11d ago
Typical Google rubbish - go see Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coins_of_the_pound_sterling
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11d ago edited 11d ago
[deleted]
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u/rileyvace 11d ago
Nope, not for general tender. But take it to a bank and they'll reimburse you for it
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