british pounds

Scottish (and Northern Ireland) don't legally have to be accepted in England, but many places will do so. Larger stores are more likely to accept them. If you cannot get rid of them, a bank or Post Office should change them.
The coins are the same throughout the UK.

You shouldn't really have much trouble with them, but do check to see that they are a current design. You are probably in luck though as they still haven't formally withdrawn the notes that were superseded in 2007 so only a problem if you last visit was a long time ago. This site gives you illustrations:

http://www.scotbanks.org.uk/banknotes_current_bank_of_scotland.php

Note that there are three different banks which issue Scottish Banknotes, and the banknotes do not look the same:

• Bank of Scotland
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Clydesdale Bank

You may have banknotes from any of them.

Now that the Scots have chosen by a substantial majority to stay in the Union there isn't any problem still using Scottish notes south of the border.

thank you all. I checked the sites you gave me and all my pounds are current. Yay...more money to spend! Now I need to figure out all the coins.

You'll be able to use them. Rick notes in our Great Britain guidebook, "Though most merchants in England accept Scottish pound notes, a few might balk--especially at the rare one-pound note, which their cash registers don’t have a slot for. (They are, however, legally required to accept your Scottish currency.)"

They aren't legally required to take them, although most will voluntarily. As the Committee of Scottish Bankers site says linked to above:

"Scottish Banknotes are legal currency – i.e. they are approved by the UK Parliament. However, Scottish Bank notes are not Legal Tender, not even in Scotland. In fact, no banknote whatsoever (including Bank of England notes!) qualifies for the term 'legal tender' north of the border and the Scottish economy seems to manage without that legal protection.

"Scottish notes circulate and are accepted quite freely in Scotland and, for the most part, they are also readily accepted in England & Wales, although branches of Scottish banks there may not issue them. However, you should not rely absolutely on Scottish notes being accepted outside Scotland and this is particularly true when travelling abroad. Our general advice would be not to carry large amounts of banknotes of any description and to make use of facilities such as travellers’ cheques (sic!), credit/debit cards and ATM cards for access to funds whilst abroad."

The Bank of England along the same lines says:

"The acceptability of a Scottish or Northern Ireland banknote as a means of payment is essentially a matter for agreement between the parties involved. If both parties are in agreement, Scottish and Northern Ireland banknotes can be used in England and Wales. "

One thing every Scot has a story about is spending Scottish notes in England and Wales. They are less of a problem in Northern Ireland. What you cannot predict where no questions will be asked or where there will be a problem. I've had more problems at a supermarket or a McDonald's in London than in a small off the beaten track local shop in the middle of nowhere. Often it does help knowing where the word 'sterling' is on each note to be able to point it our, and you are slightly less likely, in my experience, to be have a problem with Royal Bank of Scotland or Bank of Scotland because 'Scotland' is clearly marked on the notes, Clydesdale Bank is not as obvious.

Northern Ireland notes aren't always easy to spend in Scotland either. A friend of mine from Belfast has a policy of refusing Scottish notes in Scotland if they won't take 'his' notes.

Marco, I understand your friend completely. Around here most places seem to take NI notes, though from anecdote Bank of Ireland ones are problematical. Spending Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, or Gibraltar notes is even more fun, though they do have The Queen on them.

I have seen a note on a door down south 'we are unable to take Scottish or Northern Ireland notes because we do not know what we are looking for!'. I thought, far enough, and went to a cash machine.

jenet,

when i was there i received some of the various Scotland notes. I didnt know about them so i collected each bank in several denominations. I like collection various monies on my travels, so adding more was a no brainer.

but to answer your question, i had no problem using the scotland notes outside of scotland in the UK.

happy trails