Britain Cancels its Currency but Keeps £1 million notes

COMMENT:

Message: I am a great fan of your blog and read all with interest. I was surprised to read £10 notes have been canceled, as I still regularly get £10 and £20 notes and send them even though electronic money transfer is increasingly the norm

MR

REPLY: Britain introduced the new “tenners” last September. There was a period when both could circulate. That term expired here in the Spring of 2018. You can exchange them at a bank, but you must have an account. If you do not have an account like myself, the currency exchange operations charge 20%. They eliminated the paper one pound notes back in 1984. They will be doing the same with £20 notes. They have not yet announced any release date for that one. The speculation is that the £50 notes will be discontinued.

The Bank of England actually prints itself internally £1 million and £100 million pound notes. They are used only internally to back the paper currency issued by other banks such as the Bank of Scotland. They are used to back those notes which are exchangeable to Bank of England notes.