Susan Wachob

Hi-

I was emptying some things in storage and I came accross a box with the
following British coins:

Half crown- 2
50 new pence 3
10 new pence 6
one penny 2
one pound 2
2 new pence 2
5 new pence 2
20 pence 1
and one five-pound paper note

I also have 2 identical coins that look just like the small English
pound coins, except the image on the back looks like a plant (leek?)- a
tall straight plant with leaves peeling off the sides as it goes up.
What is this? A Scottish pound?

Are these still useable or has the euro made these worthless? If they're
still legal tender, what are they worth? And since I'm in the USA, I
wonder if they're worth me taking these coins to England on the next
trip or just give them to my grandkids to play with. (Guess only I can
answer this last question.)

I also have a few Irish pounds and florins. Are they worth anything?

Thanks-

Susan

barney

In article <>, (Susan
Wachob) wrote:

    >
    > Hi-
    >
    > I was emptying some things in storage and I came accross a box with the
    > following British coins:
    >
    > Half crown- 2
    > 50 new pence 3
    > 10 new pence 6
    > one penny 2
    > one pound 2
    > 2 new pence 2
    > 5 new pence 2
    > 20 pence 1
    > and one five-pound paper note
    >
    > I also have 2 identical coins that look just like the small English
    > pound coins, except the image on the back looks like a plant (leek?)- a
    > tall straight plant with leaves peeling off the sides as it goes up.
    > What is this? A Scottish pound?

It's probably a variant design of the British pound coin -- there have
been several. The leek is commonly associated with Wales, BTW.

    > Are these still useable or has the euro made these worthless?

Britain doesn't use the euro yet! All except the half crowns are still
usable. (Well - I don't know for sure if the really big old-style 10p etc.
coins are. Somebody in the group no doubt will be able to clarify.)

    > If they're
    > still legal tender, what are they worth?

Assuming all except the half crowns are usable, the total is worth about
US$15.

Clare Sleeter

Four of these pound coins were minted. The leek was for Wales, the thistle
for Scotland, a portcollis (sp) /gate for England and the Northern Ireland I
never saw so can't help you there.
Susan Wachob wrote:

    > I also have 2 identical coins that look just like the small English
    > pound coins, except the image on the back looks like a plant (leek?)- a
    > tall straight plant with leaves peeling off the sides as it goes up.
    > What is this? A Scottish pound?

Owain

"Susan Wachob" wrote
    | I was emptying some things in storage and I came accross a box with the
    | following British coins:
    | Half crown- 2

Two shillings and sixpence, or 12 and a 1/2 p decimal.

    | and one five-pound paper note

I presume a standard fairly recent one. Some of the big old fivers are worth
money to collectors.

    | I also have 2 identical coins that look just like the small English
    | pound coins, except the image on the back looks like a plant (leek?)- a
    | tall straight plant with leaves peeling off the sides as it goes up.
    | What is this? A Scottish pound?

It will be a leek, and have PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD round the circumference.
Welsh variant of the standard pound coin.

    | I wonder if they're worth me taking these coins to England on the
    | next trip or just give them to my grandkids to play with. (Guess
    | only I can answer this last question.)

You have about ten pounds which will buy you about three Burger King Meals.

    | I also have a few Irish pounds and florins. Are they worth anything?

They would need to go to Bank of Ireland to be changed. I'd probably keep
them as souvenirs or give them to the weans. (If you are ever going to NI or
Ireland it's possible some charities will still accept old money donations.)

Owain

Arwel Parry

In message <>, Susan Wachob
<> writes
    >Hi-
    >I was emptying some things in storage and I came accross a box with the
    >following British coins:
    >Half crown- 2
Not legal tender since 1970
    >50 new pence 3
OK if dated 1997 or later (and if 1997, it's 27.3 mm in
diameter and weighs 8 grams -- some of the older 30mm / 13.5g coins were
also minted in '97 before they were withdrawn).
    >10 new pence 6
OK if dated 1992 or later
    >one penny 2
OK
    >one pound 2
OK
    >2 new pence 2
OK
    >5 new pence 2
OK if dated 1990 or later
    >20 pence 1
OK
    >and one five-pound paper note
Depends who is on the back. If it's Elizabeth Fry, it's
OK. If it's George Stephenson, you've got until November 21st to spend
it, otherwise like the ones with the Duke of Wellington on the back
you'll have to take or send it to the Bank of England to exchange it for
a current note (Exchanges, Custodial Services, Threadneedle St, London
EC2R 8AH). See http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/

The old, larger 5p, 10p, and 50p coins can be exchanged at banks, but I
think there's a minimum quantity you have to exchange (perhaps £1 of
each).

    >I also have 2 identical coins that look just like the small English
    >pound coins, except the image on the back looks like a plant (leek?)- a
    >tall straight plant with leaves peeling off the sides as it goes up.
    >What is this? A Scottish pound?

Different pound coins are issued with a different design for each
country each year, in the order UK - Scotland - Wales - N. Ireland -
England. For the first 10 years (1983-92) they repeated the designs
(except for a different UK design in 1988, they repeated the first one
in 1993). So far there have been 10 different designs, and they're
starting a new series next year with bridges from each country.

    >Are these still useable or has the euro made these worthless?

We don't use the euro here yet! Except for the half crown and older 5,
10, 50p they're all current.

    > If they're
    >still legal tender, what are they worth?

Well, if you're in the US, not much as coins can't usually be exchanged
outside their country of origin - banks and bureaux de change won't
touch them. If you come to the UK, then potentially they're worth up to
£11.46, or about $18.

    >And since I'm in the USA, I
    >wonder if they're worth me taking these coins to England on the next
    >trip or just give them to my grandkids to play with. (Guess only I can
    >answer this last question.)

You might like to take a look at the encyclopaedia articles at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_coinage and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_banknotes
which I had a hand in writing.

    >I also have a few Irish pounds and florins. Are they worth anything?

If they actually say "floirin" or "2s" then they date from before the
Irish shrunk some of their coins in the early 90s and don't have
anything more than collector value (likely to be minimal if they're at
all worn). Irish pound notes and coins which were current at the end of
2001 can be exchanged for euro indefinitely at the Central Bank of
Ireland, Dame Street, Dublin at the rate of EUR 1.27 = £1. See
http://www.centralbank.ie/

Keith Willshaw

<> wrote in message
news:bo1p1c$99c$...
    > In article <>, (Susan
    > Wachob) wrote:
    > >
    > > Hi-
    > >
    > > I was emptying some things in storage and I came accross a box with the
    > > following British coins:
    > >
    > > Half crown- 2
    > > 50 new pence 3
    > > 10 new pence 6
    > > one penny 2
    > > one pound 2
    > > 2 new pence 2
    > > 5 new pence 2
    > > 20 pence 1
    > > and one five-pound paper note
    > >
    > > I also have 2 identical coins that look just like the small English
    > > pound coins, except the image on the back looks like a plant (leek?)- a
    > > tall straight plant with leaves peeling off the sides as it goes up.
    > > What is this? A Scottish pound?
    > It's probably a variant design of the British pound coin -- there have
    > been several. The leek is commonly associated with Wales, BTW.
    > > Are these still useable or has the euro made these worthless?
    > Britain doesn't use the euro yet! All except the half crowns are still
    > usable. (Well - I don't know for sure if the really big old-style 10p etc.
    > coins are. Somebody in the group no doubt will be able to clarify.)
    > > If they're
    > > still legal tender, what are they worth?
    > Assuming all except the half crowns are usable, the total is worth about
    > US$15.

The £5 pound notemay be an old pattern and not legal tender
but can probably be exchanged at a bank.

Keith

Marie Lewis

In article <bo585k$p98$>, Keith Willshaw
<> writes
    >The £5 pound notemay be an old pattern and not legal tender
    >but can probably be exchanged at a bank.


Incidentally, one pound notes can still be exchanged at post offices.
My husband, who is a postmaster, exchanged some on Friday, after
telephoning HQ to see if he was allowed to do that.

barney

In article <bo585k$p98$>,
(Keith Willshaw) wrote:

    > The £5 pound notemay be an old pattern and not legal tender
    > but can probably be exchanged at a bank.

Good point, I'd completely forgotten those.

Mark Hewitt

    > Half crown- 2
- No longer legal tender, doesn't even convert to todays money system
    > 50 new pence 3
- "New pence" so old size, not spendable
    > 10 new pence 6
- Old size again, not spendable.
    > one penny 2
- Should be okay as long as it's of the small type, but the big ones are
*very* old.
    > one pound 2
- Pound coins have never changed in size or shape, so thats worth exactly
£1.00.
    > 2 new pence 2
- Should be ok.
    > 5 new pence 2
- "New Pence again" so old style, not spendable.
    > 20 pence 1
- Should be fine.
    > and one five-pound paper note
- Depends what picture it has, our notes tend to change about once every 5
years and if you haven't got an up to date one you'll need to change it at a
bank.

    > I also have 2 identical coins that look just like the small English
    > pound coins, except the image on the back looks like a plant (leek?)- a
    > tall straight plant with leaves peeling off the sides as it goes up.
    > What is this? A Scottish pound?

These are just ordinary pound coins and as such worth one pound each.

    > Are these still useable or has the euro made these worthless?

The Euro has nothing to do with British coins.

    > If they're
    > still legal tender, what are they worth?

May sound obvious, but they are worth exactly what the value written on them
says!

    > And since I'm in the USA, I
    > wonder if they're worth me taking these coins to England on the next
    > trip or just give them to my grandkids to play with. (Guess only I can
    > answer this last question.)

I wouldn't bother. Compared with the price of a plane ticket, or even a taxi
from the airport these coins amount to almost nothing. Give them to your
grandkids :-)

    > I also have a few Irish pounds and florins. Are they worth anything?

Unlike the UK, Ireland *has* converted to the Euro, so you certainly cannot
spend them in Ireland, however Irish banks may well still accept them.

Arwel Parry

In message <bo5umf$dad$>, Mark Hewitt
<> writes
    >> I also have a few Irish pounds and florins. Are they worth anything?
    >Unlike the UK, Ireland *has* converted to the Euro, so you certainly cannot
    >spend them in Ireland, however Irish banks may well still accept them.

Only at the Central Bank in Dublin -- the period when they could be
exchanged at ordinary banks and post offices ended nearly a year and a
half ago.

Incidentally, I haven't heard any publicity in the media yet, but
there's a press release from last August on the Bank of England's
website announcing that the George Stephenson £5 note ceases to be legal
tender on 22nd November. No doubt the public will be informed at the
last moment, though it's quite a few months since I last had one of
them!