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New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

153 points by aries1980 5y ago

carmen_sandiego 5y ago
Cool design + polymer, but they should probably just abolish the £50 already. Very few places accept them. Never mind the £100 notes you can get in some parts of the UK. I would say they should encourage better acceptance of these denominations, but cash seems to be dying in general. I look to Switzerland with envy, where as far as I can tell you can stroll into the supermarket and drop a 1000-franc note without issue.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  Many places in London accept them (tourists often bring them, and higher prices make them more useful). With a new, secure design, I expect many more places will start.
  - carmen_sandiego 5y ago
    That's true, the one place I see them most often is being smuggled out of China. Actually I have gotten them from cash machines in Covent Garden before as well. Since then I've wondered what criteria they use to pick denominations for each area.
    - paublyrne 5y ago
      I would assume the criteria is what mixture of denominations will require the least regular servicing. An area where the average daily withdrawal is high - ie a wealthy area - will run out more quickly if it's giving out small denominations, but in an area where smaller amounts will quickly be unable to provide the requested amounts if they're serviced with mostly higher ones.
    - Symbiote 5y ago
      It's probably difficult to find something to buy for £5 around Covent Garden, and no problem to spend £50. I'd much prefer some £50 notes than an empty cash machine. There's also a high cash demand from tourists, and a high nighttime demand (when machines won't be refilled). > smuggled out of China That's unfair: completely honest tourists often have £50 notes, regardless of where they come from. The currency exchange office prefers high-ish denominations of most currencies. They take up less space, which matters when everything has to fit in a safe, and are generally in better condition.
      - carmen_sandiego 5y ago
        Sorry, when I say "smuggled out of China", I don't mean it was illicitly gained cash or anything. China doesn't allow the export of currency above a certain (pretty restrictive) amount, so people sneak it out. I don't agree with that rule and it's not illegal to import that money to the UK, so I didn't intend any negative meaning with my comment. But since it is illegal in China, I think smuggling is the right term. Anyway, the relevance to our conversation: since value density is highest with £50 notes, that's what they tend to bring.
  - globular-toast 5y ago
    Giving tourists very high value notes to spend is a brilliant trick.
- dan-robertson 5y ago
  The problem was that £50 notes were most likely forged, I think, although I don’t know how true that was. So the solution surely isn’t to get rid of the notes as that just shifts the forgery to the next note down. Surely instead the solution would be higher valued notes being created. But: - I don’t really think the problem is forgery. I think it’s that it is annoying for a lot of shops to make change for £50. - I don’t think the government is particularly interested in making cash more convenient for people (card transactions are easier to track) and wealthy people mostly aren’t interested in carrying around high-value notes as credit cards exist.
  - hnlmorg 5y ago
    In my experience most places were hesitant because they didn't have the change in the cash register. Anywhere busy with a full register accepted £50 notes happily. edit: to add to that, it used to be that £1 coins were the most forged in sterling cash. I can't say if that's still the case, but at one point it felt like 1 in 3 pound coins were a fake.
    - varispeed 5y ago
      It's also that people don't care much about coins. When I used cash more back in the day, I remember going through my change from time to time and I had coins from all over the world passing as pence coins.
    - RobertKerans 5y ago
      Yep, my experience as well. I worked in a busy club all through university, and we never had an issue accepting £50 notes, but at the quiet bar I sometimes worked at we were sometimes hesitant to accept them as it tended to wipe out the float. Minor, and probably specific to busy bars, but it did come up: there's also the practical issue of where you put a £50 note as there's no space for it in a register. So you kinda shove them at the bottom of another stack, but there's the danger that when you're very busy and handing change back you'd grab it without looking. So always had to tell another staff member there was a £50 in the register, and ideally that register got emptied asap.
    - 5y ago
- lifeisstillgood 5y ago
  Sadly they will become acceptable most places soon - inflation will take care of that. I remember bars refusing to take twenty's as the night wore on. Now you can barely get a round out of a twenty.
  - midasuni 5y ago
    £20 in 2020 was £10 in 1994 - 26 years ago. £20 in 1994 was £10 in 1981 - 13 years before. £20 in 1981 was £10 in 1975 Before that 1969 and 1950 So that’s doubling in 19,6,6,13,26 So inflation is at long time record lows despite the last period including the 08 crash and covid
    - albertgoeswoof 5y ago
      Excluding housing and university fees, because that’s magic money
      - dkdbejwi383 5y ago
        I thought we chopped down all the magic money trees?
        mhh__ 5y ago
        The magic money tree only applies if you are buddies with members of the cabinet, silly. https://sophieehill.shinyapps.io/my-little-crony/ https://sophieehill.shinyapps.io/my-little-crony/
      - midasuni 5y ago
        Fees were a problem back in 1999 but they creased to be an issue in 2005 when they were added to income contingent repayments. Other tax rates or indeed disposable income isn’t included in that measure CPIH figure includes houses, under that £20 today was £10 in 1990, so even lower.
    - lifeisstillgood 5y ago
      I am not sure about this. I know there is a lot of controversy over inflation measures (mostly the basket of goods used, impact of tech in holding down the basket) I take a unscientific approach in that I had a bar menu from 1971 (my birth year) showing the prices in old and new money. A pint of Skol was 5 new pennies in 1971, and today you can find an equivalent pint of lager at about 5 pounds. So that's 100 fold increase in my lifetime. A lot of that came out of the 70's and early 80s but current inflation does, anecdotally, seem higher than 1-2% a year.
- raverbashing 5y ago
  I have to agree that I like being able to pay with cards, however I think paper (or, well, plastic) money still has it place.
- nickik 5y ago
  People look at you funny if you have a CHF1000 note. But most shops will accept them fine.
- neilwilson 5y ago
  Sheep farmers in the hills of Northumberland trades flocks with rolls of £50 notes. Very difficult to get contactless working in the midst of the Cheviots.
- dblooman 5y ago
  >Very few places accept them I have heard this since I was a kid, in reality, it isn't true, at least not in London. I have never been refused when presenting a £50, not that I have carried them more than a dozen times. Most places that have issues taking them are small merchants who give away too many notes breaking them, so will often ask for a smaller note. When I was in New York once, I went into a CVS and bought $60 of sweets to bring home, the cashier shouted 'bill check' when i presented a $100 bill, so I guess I look more dodgey in the US.
  - gambiting 5y ago
    Well, I had the opposite experience here in the North East - when my dad came over to visit he had a bunch of £50 notes he got from the cash exchange office and we literally couldn't spend them. He wanted to buy some jewlery for my mum and the store wouldn't take his notes. Few other places around the town wouldn't either. We literally ended up going to the branch of my bank and changing them for £20 notes and suddenly it wasn't a problem anymore. It's just dumb. UK government should definitely drive a larger adoption of the £50 notes, it's so bizzaire to me that the British population treats their own banknotes like something from the moon.
    - dcminter 5y ago
      I don't agree that it's dumb - at least not from the government's point of view. High denomination bank notes are very useful for tax evasion. What's in it for them?
      - gambiting 5y ago
        >>High denomination bank notes are very useful for tax evasion How so? And if this is an actual, real problem...then stop printing them? What's the point of making currency that normal citizens have issues using? I just don't undestand it on some fundamental level. Where I'm from(Poland)_200PLN(about £40) notes are very common in circulation, and if you were to pay for a 5PLN loaf of bread with a 200PLN banknote I can guarantee literally no one would bat an eyelid. It's a common and completely normal banknote to use. Yet in UK, where people make more money on average and also buy more expensive things, the £50 is some alien piece of paper that most Brits have never even seen. The only other place which treats its own currency with such disdain is Germany where I saw signs on petrol stations sayng they don't accept 500 Euro notes. Well if you don't, then why even have them? What's the point? The government should be going after all retailers who don't accept any official currency, because that seems like the very basis of working currency system.
- smoe 5y ago
  1000 CHF bill are not really practical in Switzerland. Can’t remember seeing them as an option on many atms. And the only shops that will accept them are those where purchases are regularly in the several hundred francs range. But even in the large supermarket chains they might ask you to go change the bill at the nearest bank or postal office first if you try the buy a pack of chewing gum with it.
DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
Finally, a better way to recognise him - instead of Benedict Cumberbatch's criminally inaccurate 2014 portrayal - or that renamed road on the MS campus - or the great British tradition of a park bench...
- hntrader 5y ago
  What was inaccurate about it for those that know little about Turing's life
  - lifeisstillgood 5y ago
    It was not exactly inaccurate, more dumbed down. The film covered the basics well I thought, his early life, the impact of a relationship with a boy named "Christopher", the use of Bombe in breaking Enigma and the secrecy needed to keep the code-breaking from everyone. His personal life was I thought fair - it certainly compared role of women and gay men, and said something about need for brain not brawn. It did dumb down in some horrible areas however. There was a overdone conflict between him and his superiors and peers - until they too realised he was right in Hollywood fashion. The actual code breaking was ... "my god what if they put Heil Hitler at the end of each message. We could use the new computer you have built to break the message and then put the play on right here." But to be fair I don't think even I would have sat through ten minutes of Cumberbatch explaining cipher theory to get a proper grip on that. Overall, its a good way to introduce the kids to the origin of computers, the need to stick to your principles, and prejudice is bad.
    - ragnese 5y ago
      I was very disappointed in the portrayal of "Christopher"! They have him say "boy" but they never clarify that the "boy" was 19 years old. I have little doubt that some people left the movie thinking that Turing was a pedophile.
      - lifeisstillgood 5y ago
        Not that boy - Turing had a ... love affair (?) / crush (?) on a fellow school student (christopher) in their teens at boarding school. The boy died tragically during a summer vacation, having a profound effect on Turing. Christopher was the name he gave to the first Bombe I think. I don't think any part of the film implied pedophilia - not at all. NB - all above is from memory.
ninjamayo 5y ago
I haven't used or seen a £50 note for more than 15 years. In a cashless society who is still using these?
- dx034 5y ago
  Nothing to do with cashless, most places don't accept £50 notes and cash machines often only dispense £20 (apart from airports). Using less cash will probably decrease the use further but so far the lack of £50 note usage had little to do with card payments.
- AussieWog93 5y ago
  I'm not in the UK, but surely you guys have some sort of equivalent to Gumtree/Facebook Marketplace, as well as semi-legitimate cash-only businesses and tradies that are trying to avoid tax?
  - ricardobeat 5y ago
    P2P bank transfers are a breeze under SEPA.
  - londons_explore 5y ago
    Gumtree/Facebook Marketplace is still mostly cash in the UK - neither the buyer nor seller really trust the other with their bank details. Nobody is 100% sure that bank transfers are irreversible (they are, but if you complain loudly enough to the sellers bank they might mark the seller as a fraudster, ban them from banking for life, and transfer the money back to you). Cash protects both buyers and sellers more from crazy people.
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- dbbk 5y ago
  Escorts
curiousgal 5y ago
I personally think Turing was more worthy of being buried between the graves of Darwin and Newton than Hawking.
- malux85 5y ago
  100% agree, Turings work was so ahead of his time, and his incredible prescience : I am very humbled and just in awe every time I think about it.
- mhh__ 5y ago
  I feel like that's like choosing your favourite child though. Both were extremely influential in their field; both have a deeply moving human story as well.
  - willis936 5y ago
    A human story of abandoning families for some hot new piece?
- PartiallyTyped 5y ago
  I personally believe we should be doing more to promote and empower our scientists instead of shunning them for political or financial reasons. We certainly can't write a wrong long past, but we can make sure to not repeat it again. The £50 note feels like lipservice if anything.
lifeisstillgood 5y ago
So, can I add a new chain to the Blockchain, putting images up for individual satoshi? Who should vote for which images ?
ricardobeat 5y ago
Polymer bank notes are considered better for the environment because of durability and under the guise of recycling, but now that we know about the catastrophe of microplastics, are they really? The volume is massive: with the most used notes lasting 3-5 years it won't be long until you have a billion plastic notes in circulation.
- bildung 5y ago
  Textiles (through washing) and Tyres (abrasion on the road) are by far the biggest sources of microplastics. https://www.eib.org/en/essays/plastic-pollution https://www.eib.org/en/essays/plastic-pollution Introduction of these notes will probably not even be visible in microplastics assays.
  - londons_explore 5y ago
    Textiles seem like quite an easy fix - simply require HEPA style liquids filters on every washing machine before water is sent down the drain. The filter could be big and designed to last the life of the machine. It's far better to dispose of a single chunk of solid plastic waste than the billions of particulates that would have gone into waterways...
- madeofpalk 5y ago
  Usually though we like to keep money, rather than release it into the ocean.
  - ricardobeat 5y ago
    The average lifespan for lower value banknotes can be a mere 12 months. They degrade, get lost and damaged during normal use.
- londons_explore 5y ago
  I think you'll find those £50 notes will last decades or more in someones safe...
- 5y ago
bloak 5y ago
> Old paper £50 notes will still be accepted in shops for some time. I find that amusing because I suspect that in practice not many shops accept them. It's hard for me to know because despite having lived in the UK for about half a century I've never had a £50 note. Perhaps they have a plan to bring the new £50 notes into use. If today's cash machines only have the hardware to dispense two kinds of note they could replace the 20s with 50s. But inflation is low and cash is generally on the way out, so probably not, I would guess.
- hnlmorg 5y ago
  I have carried £50 notes (and accepted £50 notes when I had jobs while studying) and the only occasions I've seen them refused is when there wasn't enough change in the cash register. Scottish and other non-English sterling is another matter. Despite being legal tender in England, smaller shops don't see it frequently enough to want to take the risk handling them.
  - Milner08 5y ago
    Im like 80% sure Scottish notes are not Legal tender even in Scotland. Legal tender has a fairly narrow definition. They are accepted, and legal, but not 'legal tender'... Well that was my understanding at least. There is also no obligation for shops to accept _any_ notes as far as I know. Especially when they have no idea how to tell if they're legit (Scottish notes are incredibly rare in England and Wales).
    - Lio 5y ago
      (Not a lawyer but from my 1 module at uni) I belive that you are correct on both counts. Scottish bank notes are NOT legal tender anywhere and on one has to accept them except the issuing retail bank.[1] So retailers can reject them for the same reason as when you see something labelled with the wrong price. The shop keeper is under no obligation to sell it to you for that price. What you actually see is a reference for you, the customer, to initiate an offer to buy something at that price. If the shop keeper doesn't like the look or you money or the price your offering he can reject the deal. As far as legal tender goes that only applies to the settling of debts and a retailer could reject an offer to sell they don't like even if you do offer legal tender. Even Bank of England copper coins are only legal tender up to something like the value of 20p. So you can't take a truck load of copper coins to your landlord to pay for rent in arrears. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_Scotland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_Scotland
beforeolives 5y ago
Looking at the dates in the article - when Turing was convicted in 1952 the reigning monarch was... Elizabeth II, just like now. That's a long time.
- gherkinnn 5y ago
  It's quite extraordinary. She's met so many heads of state over the years. They all came and went and yet she remains. The first list I found of her meeting US presidents: https://time.com/5333083/queen-elizabeth-trump-visit-presidents/ https://time.com/5333083/queen-elizabeth-trump-visit-preside...
  - yumraj 5y ago
    > They all came and went and yet she remains. She didn't have to be elected..
    - smegger001 5y ago
      She may not need to be elected but there has been on going push to do away with the monarchy for her whole reign. She is still around as head of state only because she has managed to not say anything politically divisive and not stick her foot in her mouth for 70ish years.
- strong_opinions 5y ago
  She's a very old woman now and will be dead soon enough. It would be nice if that precipitated the end of the monarchy here. Depose them, seize all their land and other assets, it's only fair. Useless scroungers, the lot of them.
  - person_of_color 5y ago
    Name checks out. However, like me, you will receive downvotes for your overly contrarian opinions.
    - 5y ago
mrtksn 5y ago
It’s really cool that UK puts scientists to its own money. Most countries will go with politicians, buildings and warlords. I have to say that it saddens me to see Darwin go. Considering that the evolution theory is still considered controversial in many places(even in advanced countries like the US) I think it was a very bold move to have him on the note.
- jacobolus 5y ago
  > cool that UK puts scientists to its own money If you want an engraved portrait of Gauss, Cliff Stoll will sell you a nice one: https://www.kleinbottle.com/gauss.htm https://www.kleinbottle.com/gauss.htm
- dkdbejwi383 5y ago
  I think the situation is different in the UK. I've never come across a person who disbelieves evolution. It would be equivalent to a flat-earther or person who genuinely thinks political figures are lizard folk.
  - darrenf 5y ago
    The UK does have a Creation Science Movement[0]. My partner and I unwittingly stumbled into their Genesis Expo[1] in Portsmouth the other year – we blindly walked in without noticing the building's name or any paraphernalia, just "ooh, look, fossils". Only when inside did we realise it was full AND THIS IS WHY EVOLUTION IS WRONG stuff. [0] https://csm.org.uk/ https://csm.org.uk/ > Founded in 1932 as “The Evolution Protest Movement” by a small group of Christians concerned by the propaganda that was promoting the theory of evolution as if scientifically proven [1] https://csm.org.uk/genesis-expo/ https://csm.org.uk/genesis-expo/
    - dkdbejwi383 5y ago
      Aye I don't deny such people exist in the UK, but if they tried to get schools to change their curriculum, they would not be given the time of day like folk in the USA.
    - 5y ago
billpg 5y ago
A nice tribute before the UK moves to the Euro.
- nvoid 5y ago
  Citation needed
  - billpg 5y ago
    The UK occasionally makes tributes to historical figures by producing new series of bank notes with their picture.
    - nvoid 5y ago
      That's not what I was querying. I was wondering why you thing the UK will move to the Euro? We just left the EU and even when we were in it, we kept our currency.
      - billpg 5y ago
        We have just left the EU and its going so badly that even the fishing industry have turned on it. Once the idiot politicians who sold it have been sent packing we'll apply to re-join.
        nvoid 5y ago
        Thank God we left the EU, else we would be in the EU debacle regarding vaccines. We are ahead of every member state in terms of vaccinated population. Don't take this as me supporting Boris but its definitely a good thing that we left and the fishing thing we be sorted at some point in the near future. Even if it isn't, the benefits outweigh the cons and we can now act as our own nation free of the EU's bloated bureaucracy.
        billpg 5y ago
        Stage one: Denial.
ricardo81 5y ago
A man worthy of the gesture, though I can't remember the last time I even touched money. Most bills are paid online/direct debit and I tend to use self-service at supermarkets. I remember seeing George Galloway on a morning TV show passionately saying why Margaret Thatcher shouldn't be on any notes. At the end of the interview he was asked who was on the £5, £10, £20 notes. He had no clue. I'm sure most of us in the UK don't either.
dan1234 5y ago
A larger image, for people who want to see the detail: https://i.imgur.com/qmTZc9C.jpg https://i.imgur.com/qmTZc9C.jpg
- londons_explore 5y ago
  I feel like they really could have found a better photo... or at least touched that one up to remove the graininess, blur, and rough edges...
  - jsmith99 5y ago
    Or for people that want to print it out at home?
- _hl_ 5y ago
  This is only the preliminary concept mockup, not the final note.
mk3 5y ago
First you chemically castrate person, make him depressed and make him kill himself. Then some 60 years later make money with him. It's Ironic.
- mhh__ 5y ago
  Believe it or not the Bank of England doesn't even give royalties!
mauvehaus 5y ago
Is there a service that lets me exchange USD for GBP that guarantees I'd get my GBP in cold, hard cash in these? Preferably newer, perhaps uncirculated? I'm no collector, I just think it's cool that Turing is on a bank note, and I want one.
- Laakeri 5y ago
  I think you could anyway get it from eBay with quite small overhead.
- gadders 5y ago
  I was wondering if there was a business to be made buying these and framing them to sell to computer people in other countries :-)
- alberth 5y ago
  Is it correct to assume you do not live in the UK? As for a (web) service, I'm not aware of any. International airports and many major banks have currency exchanges. The exchanges take a healthy cut, where your personal bank most likely will not.
- raverbashing 5y ago
  Go to a money exchange place (preferably somewhere that doesn't have too many UK tourists) and ask nicely if they have it and ask to buy one. The caveat is because places with lots of tourists will have their "pocket change" (old notes)
  - foldr 5y ago
    The older notes don't remain legal tender for long in the UK, so you won't have to wait long before the currency exchanges have the new notes.
- wrboyce 5y ago
  If you’re really struggling and would like a mint note, I’m UK based and happy to assist in getting one over to you.
- 5y ago
holistio 5y ago
I've lived in London for a while, and I'm still fascinated how uncommon £50 notes were. You try to pay with one and they look at you as if you were some kind of drug lord. Hop over to Switzerland, and you can buy a coffee with a 1000 franc (GBP780) note without any issues.
- nly 5y ago
  I know you're exaggerating slightly, but how would a coffee vendor make change for that many francs?
  - Robin_Message 5y ago
    I'm exaggerating slightly, but after going on holiday to Switzerland, the coffee vendor doesn't need to give any change for a thousand francs. (Serious price comparison: I walked over the St Bernard's pass from Switzerland to Italy. In Switzerland, we paid €6.50 for mediocre commercial ice cream. Over the border in Italy, €2 for the most incredible gelato. Although it may be that walking down a mountain to get it improves your perception of an ice-cream.)
  - holistio 5y ago
    Oh the coffee vendor would just give you the "so... no tips?" look.
- als0 5y ago
  If you're a local and you try to pay with a £50 note then you get the 'you must be a drug lord' look. But if you're in a touristy area then this it's fairly normal to see them since foreign exchanges stock a lot of those notes.
- JohnTHaller 5y ago
  On a related note, 50 and 100 dollar bills in New York City are generally not accepted in most stores due to counterfeiting. Many places also refuse them due to not having enough change.
  - 5y ago
noisy_boy 5y ago
> The banknote was described by Peter Sands, former chief executive of Standard Chartered bank, as the "currency of corrupt elites, of crime of all sorts and of tax evasion". Rich coming from someone under whose leadership, money laundering was going on: > Also during his time at the bank, Sands was harshly criticized after Standard Chartered paid New York State $340 million in 2012 to settle claims it laundered money for Iran[0] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sands_(banker) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sands_(banker)
yumraj 5y ago
Startup idea: I’m sure a lot of people in the US will pay $80-$100 USD for it to be shipped to them. Not sure if that breaks at laws, IMNAL.. Not sure of the TAM/ SAM/ SOM

153 points by aries1980 5y ago

Cool design + polymer, but they should probably just abolish the £50 already. Very few places accept them. Never mind the £100 notes you can get in some parts of the UK. I would say they should encourage better acceptance of these denominations, but cash seems to be dying in general. I look to Switzerland with envy, where as far as I can tell you can stroll into the supermarket and drop a 1000-franc note without issue.

Symbiote 5y ago
Many places in London accept them (tourists often bring them, and higher prices make them more useful). With a new, secure design, I expect many more places will start.
- carmen_sandiego 5y ago
  That's true, the one place I see them most often is being smuggled out of China. Actually I have gotten them from cash machines in Covent Garden before as well. Since then I've wondered what criteria they use to pick denominations for each area.
  - paublyrne 5y ago
    I would assume the criteria is what mixture of denominations will require the least regular servicing. An area where the average daily withdrawal is high - ie a wealthy area - will run out more quickly if it's giving out small denominations, but in an area where smaller amounts will quickly be unable to provide the requested amounts if they're serviced with mostly higher ones.
  - Symbiote 5y ago
    It's probably difficult to find something to buy for £5 around Covent Garden, and no problem to spend £50. I'd much prefer some £50 notes than an empty cash machine. There's also a high cash demand from tourists, and a high nighttime demand (when machines won't be refilled). > smuggled out of China That's unfair: completely honest tourists often have £50 notes, regardless of where they come from. The currency exchange office prefers high-ish denominations of most currencies. They take up less space, which matters when everything has to fit in a safe, and are generally in better condition.
    - carmen_sandiego 5y ago
      Sorry, when I say "smuggled out of China", I don't mean it was illicitly gained cash or anything. China doesn't allow the export of currency above a certain (pretty restrictive) amount, so people sneak it out. I don't agree with that rule and it's not illegal to import that money to the UK, so I didn't intend any negative meaning with my comment. But since it is illegal in China, I think smuggling is the right term. Anyway, the relevance to our conversation: since value density is highest with £50 notes, that's what they tend to bring.
- globular-toast 5y ago
  Giving tourists very high value notes to spend is a brilliant trick.
dan-robertson 5y ago
The problem was that £50 notes were most likely forged, I think, although I don’t know how true that was. So the solution surely isn’t to get rid of the notes as that just shifts the forgery to the next note down. Surely instead the solution would be higher valued notes being created. But: - I don’t really think the problem is forgery. I think it’s that it is annoying for a lot of shops to make change for £50. - I don’t think the government is particularly interested in making cash more convenient for people (card transactions are easier to track) and wealthy people mostly aren’t interested in carrying around high-value notes as credit cards exist.
- hnlmorg 5y ago
  In my experience most places were hesitant because they didn't have the change in the cash register. Anywhere busy with a full register accepted £50 notes happily. edit: to add to that, it used to be that £1 coins were the most forged in sterling cash. I can't say if that's still the case, but at one point it felt like 1 in 3 pound coins were a fake.
  - varispeed 5y ago
    It's also that people don't care much about coins. When I used cash more back in the day, I remember going through my change from time to time and I had coins from all over the world passing as pence coins.
  - RobertKerans 5y ago
    Yep, my experience as well. I worked in a busy club all through university, and we never had an issue accepting £50 notes, but at the quiet bar I sometimes worked at we were sometimes hesitant to accept them as it tended to wipe out the float. Minor, and probably specific to busy bars, but it did come up: there's also the practical issue of where you put a £50 note as there's no space for it in a register. So you kinda shove them at the bottom of another stack, but there's the danger that when you're very busy and handing change back you'd grab it without looking. So always had to tell another staff member there was a £50 in the register, and ideally that register got emptied asap.
  - 5y ago
lifeisstillgood 5y ago
Sadly they will become acceptable most places soon - inflation will take care of that. I remember bars refusing to take twenty's as the night wore on. Now you can barely get a round out of a twenty.
- midasuni 5y ago
  £20 in 2020 was £10 in 1994 - 26 years ago. £20 in 1994 was £10 in 1981 - 13 years before. £20 in 1981 was £10 in 1975 Before that 1969 and 1950 So that’s doubling in 19,6,6,13,26 So inflation is at long time record lows despite the last period including the 08 crash and covid
  - albertgoeswoof 5y ago
    Excluding housing and university fees, because that’s magic money
    - dkdbejwi383 5y ago
      I thought we chopped down all the magic money trees?
      - mhh__ 5y ago
        The magic money tree only applies if you are buddies with members of the cabinet, silly. https://sophieehill.shinyapps.io/my-little-crony/ https://sophieehill.shinyapps.io/my-little-crony/
    - midasuni 5y ago
      Fees were a problem back in 1999 but they creased to be an issue in 2005 when they were added to income contingent repayments. Other tax rates or indeed disposable income isn’t included in that measure CPIH figure includes houses, under that £20 today was £10 in 1990, so even lower.
  - lifeisstillgood 5y ago
    I am not sure about this. I know there is a lot of controversy over inflation measures (mostly the basket of goods used, impact of tech in holding down the basket) I take a unscientific approach in that I had a bar menu from 1971 (my birth year) showing the prices in old and new money. A pint of Skol was 5 new pennies in 1971, and today you can find an equivalent pint of lager at about 5 pounds. So that's 100 fold increase in my lifetime. A lot of that came out of the 70's and early 80s but current inflation does, anecdotally, seem higher than 1-2% a year.
raverbashing 5y ago
I have to agree that I like being able to pay with cards, however I think paper (or, well, plastic) money still has it place.
nickik 5y ago
People look at you funny if you have a CHF1000 note. But most shops will accept them fine.
neilwilson 5y ago
Sheep farmers in the hills of Northumberland trades flocks with rolls of £50 notes. Very difficult to get contactless working in the midst of the Cheviots.
dblooman 5y ago
>Very few places accept them I have heard this since I was a kid, in reality, it isn't true, at least not in London. I have never been refused when presenting a £50, not that I have carried them more than a dozen times. Most places that have issues taking them are small merchants who give away too many notes breaking them, so will often ask for a smaller note. When I was in New York once, I went into a CVS and bought $60 of sweets to bring home, the cashier shouted 'bill check' when i presented a $100 bill, so I guess I look more dodgey in the US.
- gambiting 5y ago
  Well, I had the opposite experience here in the North East - when my dad came over to visit he had a bunch of £50 notes he got from the cash exchange office and we literally couldn't spend them. He wanted to buy some jewlery for my mum and the store wouldn't take his notes. Few other places around the town wouldn't either. We literally ended up going to the branch of my bank and changing them for £20 notes and suddenly it wasn't a problem anymore. It's just dumb. UK government should definitely drive a larger adoption of the £50 notes, it's so bizzaire to me that the British population treats their own banknotes like something from the moon.
  - dcminter 5y ago
    I don't agree that it's dumb - at least not from the government's point of view. High denomination bank notes are very useful for tax evasion. What's in it for them?
    - gambiting 5y ago
      >>High denomination bank notes are very useful for tax evasion How so? And if this is an actual, real problem...then stop printing them? What's the point of making currency that normal citizens have issues using? I just don't undestand it on some fundamental level. Where I'm from(Poland)_200PLN(about £40) notes are very common in circulation, and if you were to pay for a 5PLN loaf of bread with a 200PLN banknote I can guarantee literally no one would bat an eyelid. It's a common and completely normal banknote to use. Yet in UK, where people make more money on average and also buy more expensive things, the £50 is some alien piece of paper that most Brits have never even seen. The only other place which treats its own currency with such disdain is Germany where I saw signs on petrol stations sayng they don't accept 500 Euro notes. Well if you don't, then why even have them? What's the point? The government should be going after all retailers who don't accept any official currency, because that seems like the very basis of working currency system.
smoe 5y ago
1000 CHF bill are not really practical in Switzerland. Can’t remember seeing them as an option on many atms. And the only shops that will accept them are those where purchases are regularly in the several hundred francs range. But even in the large supermarket chains they might ask you to go change the bill at the nearest bank or postal office first if you try the buy a pack of chewing gum with it.

DaiPlusPlus 5y ago

Finally, a better way to recognise him - instead of Benedict Cumberbatch's criminally inaccurate 2014 portrayal - or that renamed road on the MS campus - or the great British tradition of a park bench...

hntrader 5y ago
What was inaccurate about it for those that know little about Turing's life
- lifeisstillgood 5y ago
  It was not exactly inaccurate, more dumbed down. The film covered the basics well I thought, his early life, the impact of a relationship with a boy named "Christopher", the use of Bombe in breaking Enigma and the secrecy needed to keep the code-breaking from everyone. His personal life was I thought fair - it certainly compared role of women and gay men, and said something about need for brain not brawn. It did dumb down in some horrible areas however. There was a overdone conflict between him and his superiors and peers - until they too realised he was right in Hollywood fashion. The actual code breaking was ... "my god what if they put Heil Hitler at the end of each message. We could use the new computer you have built to break the message and then put the play on right here." But to be fair I don't think even I would have sat through ten minutes of Cumberbatch explaining cipher theory to get a proper grip on that. Overall, its a good way to introduce the kids to the origin of computers, the need to stick to your principles, and prejudice is bad.
  - ragnese 5y ago
    I was very disappointed in the portrayal of "Christopher"! They have him say "boy" but they never clarify that the "boy" was 19 years old. I have little doubt that some people left the movie thinking that Turing was a pedophile.
    - lifeisstillgood 5y ago
      Not that boy - Turing had a ... love affair (?) / crush (?) on a fellow school student (christopher) in their teens at boarding school. The boy died tragically during a summer vacation, having a profound effect on Turing. Christopher was the name he gave to the first Bombe I think. I don't think any part of the film implied pedophilia - not at all. NB - all above is from memory.

ninjamayo 5y ago

I haven't used or seen a £50 note for more than 15 years. In a cashless society who is still using these?

dx034 5y ago
Nothing to do with cashless, most places don't accept £50 notes and cash machines often only dispense £20 (apart from airports). Using less cash will probably decrease the use further but so far the lack of £50 note usage had little to do with card payments.
AussieWog93 5y ago
I'm not in the UK, but surely you guys have some sort of equivalent to Gumtree/Facebook Marketplace, as well as semi-legitimate cash-only businesses and tradies that are trying to avoid tax?
- ricardobeat 5y ago
  P2P bank transfers are a breeze under SEPA.
- londons_explore 5y ago
  Gumtree/Facebook Marketplace is still mostly cash in the UK - neither the buyer nor seller really trust the other with their bank details. Nobody is 100% sure that bank transfers are irreversible (they are, but if you complain loudly enough to the sellers bank they might mark the seller as a fraudster, ban them from banking for life, and transfer the money back to you). Cash protects both buyers and sellers more from crazy people.
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dbbk 5y ago
Escorts

curiousgal 5y ago

I personally think Turing was more worthy of being buried between the graves of Darwin and Newton than Hawking.

malux85 5y ago
100% agree, Turings work was so ahead of his time, and his incredible prescience : I am very humbled and just in awe every time I think about it.
mhh__ 5y ago
I feel like that's like choosing your favourite child though. Both were extremely influential in their field; both have a deeply moving human story as well.
- willis936 5y ago
  A human story of abandoning families for some hot new piece?
PartiallyTyped 5y ago
I personally believe we should be doing more to promote and empower our scientists instead of shunning them for political or financial reasons. We certainly can't write a wrong long past, but we can make sure to not repeat it again. The £50 note feels like lipservice if anything.

lifeisstillgood 5y ago

So, can I add a new chain to the Blockchain, putting images up for individual satoshi? Who should vote for which images ?

ricardobeat 5y ago

Polymer bank notes are considered better for the environment because of durability and under the guise of recycling, but now that we know about the catastrophe of microplastics, are they really? The volume is massive: with the most used notes lasting 3-5 years it won't be long until you have a billion plastic notes in circulation.

bildung 5y ago
Textiles (through washing) and Tyres (abrasion on the road) are by far the biggest sources of microplastics. https://www.eib.org/en/essays/plastic-pollution https://www.eib.org/en/essays/plastic-pollution Introduction of these notes will probably not even be visible in microplastics assays.
- londons_explore 5y ago
  Textiles seem like quite an easy fix - simply require HEPA style liquids filters on every washing machine before water is sent down the drain. The filter could be big and designed to last the life of the machine. It's far better to dispose of a single chunk of solid plastic waste than the billions of particulates that would have gone into waterways...
madeofpalk 5y ago
Usually though we like to keep money, rather than release it into the ocean.
- ricardobeat 5y ago
  The average lifespan for lower value banknotes can be a mere 12 months. They degrade, get lost and damaged during normal use.
londons_explore 5y ago
I think you'll find those £50 notes will last decades or more in someones safe...
5y ago

bloak 5y ago

> Old paper £50 notes will still be accepted in shops for some time. I find that amusing because I suspect that in practice not many shops accept them. It's hard for me to know because despite having lived in the UK for about half a century I've never had a £50 note. Perhaps they have a plan to bring the new £50 notes into use. If today's cash machines only have the hardware to dispense two kinds of note they could replace the 20s with 50s. But inflation is low and cash is generally on the way out, so probably not, I would guess.

hnlmorg 5y ago
I have carried £50 notes (and accepted £50 notes when I had jobs while studying) and the only occasions I've seen them refused is when there wasn't enough change in the cash register. Scottish and other non-English sterling is another matter. Despite being legal tender in England, smaller shops don't see it frequently enough to want to take the risk handling them.
- Milner08 5y ago
  Im like 80% sure Scottish notes are not Legal tender even in Scotland. Legal tender has a fairly narrow definition. They are accepted, and legal, but not 'legal tender'... Well that was my understanding at least. There is also no obligation for shops to accept _any_ notes as far as I know. Especially when they have no idea how to tell if they're legit (Scottish notes are incredibly rare in England and Wales).
  - Lio 5y ago
    (Not a lawyer but from my 1 module at uni) I belive that you are correct on both counts. Scottish bank notes are NOT legal tender anywhere and on one has to accept them except the issuing retail bank.[1] So retailers can reject them for the same reason as when you see something labelled with the wrong price. The shop keeper is under no obligation to sell it to you for that price. What you actually see is a reference for you, the customer, to initiate an offer to buy something at that price. If the shop keeper doesn't like the look or you money or the price your offering he can reject the deal. As far as legal tender goes that only applies to the settling of debts and a retailer could reject an offer to sell they don't like even if you do offer legal tender. Even Bank of England copper coins are only legal tender up to something like the value of 20p. So you can't take a truck load of copper coins to your landlord to pay for rent in arrears. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_Scotland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_Scotland

beforeolives 5y ago

Looking at the dates in the article - when Turing was convicted in 1952 the reigning monarch was... Elizabeth II, just like now. That's a long time.

gherkinnn 5y ago
It's quite extraordinary. She's met so many heads of state over the years. They all came and went and yet she remains. The first list I found of her meeting US presidents: https://time.com/5333083/queen-elizabeth-trump-visit-presidents/ https://time.com/5333083/queen-elizabeth-trump-visit-preside...
- yumraj 5y ago
  > They all came and went and yet she remains. She didn't have to be elected..
  - smegger001 5y ago
    She may not need to be elected but there has been on going push to do away with the monarchy for her whole reign. She is still around as head of state only because she has managed to not say anything politically divisive and not stick her foot in her mouth for 70ish years.
strong_opinions 5y ago
She's a very old woman now and will be dead soon enough. It would be nice if that precipitated the end of the monarchy here. Depose them, seize all their land and other assets, it's only fair. Useless scroungers, the lot of them.
- person_of_color 5y ago
  Name checks out. However, like me, you will receive downvotes for your overly contrarian opinions.
  - 5y ago

mrtksn 5y ago

It’s really cool that UK puts scientists to its own money. Most countries will go with politicians, buildings and warlords. I have to say that it saddens me to see Darwin go. Considering that the evolution theory is still considered controversial in many places(even in advanced countries like the US) I think it was a very bold move to have him on the note.

jacobolus 5y ago
> cool that UK puts scientists to its own money If you want an engraved portrait of Gauss, Cliff Stoll will sell you a nice one: https://www.kleinbottle.com/gauss.htm https://www.kleinbottle.com/gauss.htm
dkdbejwi383 5y ago
I think the situation is different in the UK. I've never come across a person who disbelieves evolution. It would be equivalent to a flat-earther or person who genuinely thinks political figures are lizard folk.
- darrenf 5y ago
  The UK does have a Creation Science Movement[0]. My partner and I unwittingly stumbled into their Genesis Expo[1] in Portsmouth the other year – we blindly walked in without noticing the building's name or any paraphernalia, just "ooh, look, fossils". Only when inside did we realise it was full AND THIS IS WHY EVOLUTION IS WRONG stuff. [0] https://csm.org.uk/ https://csm.org.uk/ > Founded in 1932 as “The Evolution Protest Movement” by a small group of Christians concerned by the propaganda that was promoting the theory of evolution as if scientifically proven [1] https://csm.org.uk/genesis-expo/ https://csm.org.uk/genesis-expo/
  - dkdbejwi383 5y ago
    Aye I don't deny such people exist in the UK, but if they tried to get schools to change their curriculum, they would not be given the time of day like folk in the USA.
  - 5y ago

billpg 5y ago

A nice tribute before the UK moves to the Euro.

nvoid 5y ago
Citation needed
- billpg 5y ago
  The UK occasionally makes tributes to historical figures by producing new series of bank notes with their picture.
  - nvoid 5y ago
    That's not what I was querying. I was wondering why you thing the UK will move to the Euro? We just left the EU and even when we were in it, we kept our currency.
    - billpg 5y ago
      We have just left the EU and its going so badly that even the fishing industry have turned on it. Once the idiot politicians who sold it have been sent packing we'll apply to re-join.
      - nvoid 5y ago
        Thank God we left the EU, else we would be in the EU debacle regarding vaccines. We are ahead of every member state in terms of vaccinated population. Don't take this as me supporting Boris but its definitely a good thing that we left and the fishing thing we be sorted at some point in the near future. Even if it isn't, the benefits outweigh the cons and we can now act as our own nation free of the EU's bloated bureaucracy.
        billpg 5y ago
        Stage one: Denial.

ricardo81 5y ago

A man worthy of the gesture, though I can't remember the last time I even touched money. Most bills are paid online/direct debit and I tend to use self-service at supermarkets. I remember seeing George Galloway on a morning TV show passionately saying why Margaret Thatcher shouldn't be on any notes. At the end of the interview he was asked who was on the £5, £10, £20 notes. He had no clue. I'm sure most of us in the UK don't either.

dan1234 5y ago

A larger image, for people who want to see the detail: https://i.imgur.com/qmTZc9C.jpg https://i.imgur.com/qmTZc9C.jpg

londons_explore 5y ago
I feel like they really could have found a better photo... or at least touched that one up to remove the graininess, blur, and rough edges...
- jsmith99 5y ago
  Or for people that want to print it out at home?
_hl_ 5y ago
This is only the preliminary concept mockup, not the final note.

mk3 5y ago

First you chemically castrate person, make him depressed and make him kill himself. Then some 60 years later make money with him. It's Ironic.

mhh__ 5y ago
Believe it or not the Bank of England doesn't even give royalties!

mauvehaus 5y ago

Is there a service that lets me exchange USD for GBP that guarantees I'd get my GBP in cold, hard cash in these? Preferably newer, perhaps uncirculated? I'm no collector, I just think it's cool that Turing is on a bank note, and I want one.

Laakeri 5y ago
I think you could anyway get it from eBay with quite small overhead.
gadders 5y ago
I was wondering if there was a business to be made buying these and framing them to sell to computer people in other countries :-)
alberth 5y ago
Is it correct to assume you do not live in the UK? As for a (web) service, I'm not aware of any. International airports and many major banks have currency exchanges. The exchanges take a healthy cut, where your personal bank most likely will not.
raverbashing 5y ago
Go to a money exchange place (preferably somewhere that doesn't have too many UK tourists) and ask nicely if they have it and ask to buy one. The caveat is because places with lots of tourists will have their "pocket change" (old notes)
- foldr 5y ago
  The older notes don't remain legal tender for long in the UK, so you won't have to wait long before the currency exchanges have the new notes.
wrboyce 5y ago
If you’re really struggling and would like a mint note, I’m UK based and happy to assist in getting one over to you.
5y ago

holistio 5y ago

I've lived in London for a while, and I'm still fascinated how uncommon £50 notes were. You try to pay with one and they look at you as if you were some kind of drug lord. Hop over to Switzerland, and you can buy a coffee with a 1000 franc (GBP780) note without any issues.

nly 5y ago
I know you're exaggerating slightly, but how would a coffee vendor make change for that many francs?
- Robin_Message 5y ago
  I'm exaggerating slightly, but after going on holiday to Switzerland, the coffee vendor doesn't need to give any change for a thousand francs. (Serious price comparison: I walked over the St Bernard's pass from Switzerland to Italy. In Switzerland, we paid €6.50 for mediocre commercial ice cream. Over the border in Italy, €2 for the most incredible gelato. Although it may be that walking down a mountain to get it improves your perception of an ice-cream.)
- holistio 5y ago
  Oh the coffee vendor would just give you the "so... no tips?" look.
als0 5y ago
If you're a local and you try to pay with a £50 note then you get the 'you must be a drug lord' look. But if you're in a touristy area then this it's fairly normal to see them since foreign exchanges stock a lot of those notes.
JohnTHaller 5y ago
On a related note, 50 and 100 dollar bills in New York City are generally not accepted in most stores due to counterfeiting. Many places also refuse them due to not having enough change.
- 5y ago

noisy_boy 5y ago

> The banknote was described by Peter Sands, former chief executive of Standard Chartered bank, as the "currency of corrupt elites, of crime of all sorts and of tax evasion". Rich coming from someone under whose leadership, money laundering was going on: > Also during his time at the bank, Sands was harshly criticized after Standard Chartered paid New York State $340 million in 2012 to settle claims it laundered money for Iran[0] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sands_(banker) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sands_(banker)

yumraj 5y ago

Startup idea: I’m sure a lot of people in the US will pay $80-$100 USD for it to be shipped to them. Not sure if that breaks at laws, IMNAL.. Not sure of the TAM/ SAM/ SOM