Outdated British pounds

round pounds are now purely souvenirs. You can't spend them and you can't exchange them. Pound coins are no longer round.

Paper English currency can be exchanged for polymer at the Bank of England, Threadneedle Street in the City of London (tube: Bank) and at some post offices but nowhere near all. You can't do it from Paris.

Scottish currency is a different story.

How much have you got? I mean, is it worth it jumping through the hoops and making a trip to London?

I had enough pound notes that it made sense I mailed them from the US and received a wire transfer back to my bank here. Here is the link with directions. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/exchanging-old-banknotes

Hi, Thanks for your replies. We totally forgot about it. We have enough pounds notes- over 500 pounds that we will definitely have to take the route recommmeded by Laurie Ann. Another option is just to take a one day trip from Paris to exchange it but not sure where to exchange it.

As you have over £300 an in person exchange would have to be at the Bank of England, as the Post Office limit is £300.

Hi, just wondering if we can just go to the bank to have it exchange and will recieved the new pounds that same day or do we need to wait a day or 2?
If yes, then we will need to take the Eurostar and hopefully make a daytrip to London although I wouldn’t mind going back to London again. Thanks.

I don't think the mail option from US is limited to 300 pounds. I am sure I sent more than that. The directions explain there is a limit if you want cash, but not if you want a check or direct deposit.

Hi Laurie Ann, thanks I will look into the link.

If you do opt for an in person exchange, as opposed to mailing in, then yes you get the new notes immediately. A return Eurostar journey will cost you around £100 each if booked fairly soon. Take the first train out and you arrive in London at 0830, nice time for the bank opening at 0930. Do remember the 90 minute check in for Eurostar at both ends so 0530 at Paris Nord for the first train.

I did this in May. I went to the Main office of the Bank of England and got there about 845 (wasn't sure how long it would take me, lol!). We were let in a little bit ahead of their 930 opening time. I was about 3rd in line and was immediately directed to a teller who exchanged my old notes for new ones. I did not have to fill out any forms and I did not have to show ID (I had my passport with me in case it was needed). It took about 5 minutes.

My recommendation is to be there as early as you can if you are coming from Paris for the day. The guard told me and another woman that the line goes down the block and if the line is long enough they cut off how many people can get in line as they want everyone taken care of by closing time.

Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jp4yps3gUVQ61XPz5

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/exchanging-old-banknotes

I will add that my guess is that they will ask people for supporting documents if someone is trading in a lot of cash (to me 500 is not a HUGE sum...not like you were laundering money!) or if they otherwise cause any concern from staff.

I’m assuming that you can mail them using something like FedEx or something but I would make sure to insure it because even though it’s no longer valid currency someone could help themselves and do the exchange. we ran into this having to ship US currency that had been damaged and if it’s lost in the mail you’re basically out of luck we had several thousand dollars that had been buried (yes a friend of mine’s father buried money in his basement) and that they found it out they found after his death. Since the friend does not travel we actually delivered it for him to the department of treasury because you will lose it if something happens to it in the mail and we couldn’t really get it insured for what we needed to (they had to put the bills back together and it turned out to be over $10,000 when they finally reassembled the decaying money. Just a hint don’t bury money in your basement.😂)

I was just in the UK early December, my last trip there having been in 2018.
I knew that old notes had been replaced with a new type, and had already mailed them last year as a gift to a friend….about £30.
However, I didn’t know that old pound coins were not valid until I tried to pay for coffee my first morning.
The server looked at me like I had been under a rock.
All other types of UK coins are still valid.
I ended up putting all my old pounds, and all the 1p and 2p coins, in one of those coin charity donation bins found in most airports as I left the UK.

As already stated, obsolete coins are useless and exchanging the paper notes is easy. Believe it took us 10-15 minutes a few years ago to exchange about £1100 old notes to new ones. I did have to fill out a form and show ID.

If you know someone going to London maybe they’d exchange the notes for you.

"Just a hint don’t bury money in your basement.😂)"

Oh my word, Carol! $10,000!! I guess you should use Gott Coolers in the back yard instead, right? (or back garden for the UK contingent).

I exchanged 600 pounds for my sister last summer. No issues. Just go to the Bank of England on Threadneedle Street. The security guards are well used to this request and will show you where to line up.. Get there a bit before they open.

Hi. Thanks so much. I think most likely that will be our option to take the earliest Eurostar to the bank then take the latest Eurostar back to Paris. There will be 3 of us and we’re able to get a room for 3 of us at hotel muguet in Paris. Haven’t been to Europe for over 5 years. I have to check if we just buy the Eurostar or if we need to reserve ahead of time.
We booked a trip to Paris/ London 2020 but had to cancel due to the pandemic. It was hard to communicate with Eurostar to get a refund or credit so in the end we just let it go without getting any credits.

I would suggest getting the Eurostar tickets in advance. In general prices increase as you get closer to the date of travel. Some popular days and times can sell out or get close to selling out.

Side note. Any thoughts about a future trip to London? Seems like a bit of a waste of time and money to sidetrack over just to exchange notes. I’d offer to do it the next time I go. But I don’t expect anyone to trust a random RS forum member with that much £££.

I love Hotel Muguet! I hope you enjoy it as well.

I agree with Rocket, get your Eurostar tickets right away. They are already on sale for March. I did look and the earliest train to London from Paris on a random date in mid-March is available for $66 one way. Purchase from www.eurostar.com

Thanks. A visit to london will be great too. We just had to factor it into our trip. Most likely since we are there we might just spent a night there as we do not want to lose our reservation for 3 at hotel muguet.

Do you have any friends, neighbors, or coworkers who are going to be in England who could exchange them for you?

Hi Shelley, unfortunately they are not going to London this year.

Hi, just wondering if there is an expiration to do the exchange of the outdated pounds? Thanks.

All Bank of England notes issued back to its foundation in 1694 are exchangeable for face value.

Thanks a lot Marco.