street lights and EV charging points

[DetlefSchmitz]

The crown has been worth £5 since 1990 (the Queen Mother's 90th Birthday).

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Interesting, I only know any of this from when I paid for my daughters house, I expected to hand over cheques and had even contacted my banks who said I could use my debit cards. The conveyancing solicitors insisted it had to be wire transfers on the day, not even standard bank transfers in advance. When I joked about paying with cash they said they'd accept coin but not paper (plastic notes) and I'd have to produce loads of documentation due to money laundering, I had to produce some anyway and it was touch and go that they'd accept my explanations it was savings from earnings.

As John, the Crowns are/were 5 Bob. Going back to the 70's I used to have to carry loads of cash in my back pocket to finance work when far from home. One day, in a restaurant having lunch, some Irish guys were struggling to pay their bills because all they had were (I think £50 notes) and asked me if I could help them out by splitting them for them - I rather foolishly took the risk on them being forgeries, but everything was fine.

 

[winston1]

given that the highest denomination coin is £1

Where have you been for the last umpteen years? We have £2 coins now.

 

[winston1]

The crown has been worth £5 since 1990 (the Queen Mother's 90th Birthday).

I think that only applies to new ones issued since then. I doubt the Royal Mint would give you £5 for an older one.

 

[ericmark]

There were always 8 half crowns to the pound, so must be 4 crowns to the pound, but noted some of the latter commemorative coins were not crowns but 50 p's.

I have had in my hand a £150 coin minted to commemorate 150 years British rule of the Falklands, although it's real valve at time was more like £250, I am not sure what the highest valve British coin is? Are there any over £150?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

There were always 8 half crowns to the pound, so must be 4 crowns to the pound, but noted some of the latter commemorative coins were not crowns but 50 p's.

I have had in my hand a £150 coin minted to commemorate 150 years British rule of the Falklands, although it's real valve at time was more like £250, I am not sure what the highest valve British coin is? Are there any over £150?

Many/most/all of the commemorative coinage is only valid in certain territories. Coins and notes are generally disappearing from use.

 

[ericmark]

But the point is in a car park you can pay with cash, and in shops you can pay with cash, it may be handy for most to use a card, but not required, a visitor from another country can change their currency at the port and live in the UK without a bank account or any sort of card.

Unless they hire an electric car, that is about the only thing you can't use without a bank account. Not seen a single EV charging point which will take any type of cash.

Maybe when you hire an EV you can get a fuel card to re-fuel with, however a friend took his car in for repair and was given an electric courtesy car with not even a charging lead, he was crossing his fingers the battery did not go flat.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

But the point is in a car park you can pay with cash, and in shops you can pay with cash, it may be handy for most to use a card, but not required, a visitor from another country can change their currency at the port and live in the UK without a bank account or any sort of card.

The only car park I use regularly has been card-only for at least 2 years. Don't expect to ever see an EV charging point that takes notes and coins.
I would be delighted if I didn't have to mess with cash when travelling abroad, not just because of the inconvenience, but cash is so dirty. Thinking of going to Croatia this autumn, they're adopting the Euro in January so I am going to end up with a pile of useless shrapnel.

Unless they hire an electric car, that is about the only thing you can't use without a bank account. Not seen a single EV charging point which will take any type of cash.

If you can buy a fuel card then presumably you are capable of buying a pre-loaded credit card?
If you're an adult without any means of electronic payments today then you have gone out of your way to be so, and charging an electric vehicle is the least of your worries.

 

[JohnW2]

The crown has been worth £5 since 1990 (the Queen Mother's 90th Birthday).

That is true, but they are only issued/intended as 'commemorative' coins to mark some specific (most commonly royal) occasion, and have to be 'purchased', rather than being in general circulation as 'currency'. In the context of this discussion, although I believe that they are 'legal tender' in the UK, I suspect that anyone who used them as such would be rather daft, since they nearly always acquire a re-sale value greater than their 'face value' very soon after first being bought.

Indeed, even the initial price of 'not intended for circulation' coins produced by the Royal Mint can be considerably in excess of their 'face value'. In 2019, the Royal Mint apparently issued a series of coins. This included just one £5,000 coin (weighing 5 kg) which was sold for an 'undisclosed amount', thought to have been around £300,000. They also produced a number of £2,000 ones (2 kg), which they apparently sold for £119,950 each. Anyone who used such coins ('at face value') to pay their electrician would be a little on the silly side

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

Where have you been for the last umpteen years? We have £2 coins now.

That was actually a typo. Now corrected

 

[ericmark]

OK some time ago, I remember working on the Falklands and my bank cards worked OK, but the Barclaycard did not, seems they had issues with South Africa where the Falklands bank was based.

So you need a collection of cards to be sure one will work, but only Algeria of countries I have visited could you not get cash changed to local currency (without breaking the law) and most countries you know what cash they will accept, but finding out which cards are taken is harder.

I know before going to Hong Kong I enquired as to what banks I should use, and got a HK$ account with HSBC which had at the time a UK bank called the Midlands, but even so one had to be careful transferring money due to charges, so my wife would draw out £900 cash in the UK then walk from cash machine to inside the bank and deposit it in £ sterling, even if the HK$ card would work in UK no way would we use it for small amounts as the chargers were so high.

This was why we had travellers cheques, not used them now for years, but I still have a HK$ account, not a clue what is in it, if anything, but it makes no difference cash or card as you move country to country you still end up with some money you can't use.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Maybe when you hire an EV you can get a fuel card to re-fuel with, however a friend took his car in for repair and was given an electric courtesy car with not even a charging lead, he was crossing his fingers the battery did not go flat.

Maybe a deliberate attempt to limit usage miles?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

HSBC which had at the time a UK bank called the Midlands

Midland Bank became (or part of) HSBC.

 

[flameport]

But the point is in a car park you can pay with cash

In some of them. Certainly not all. Smartphone app or call a number to pay via some automated affair is commonplace.

Maybe when you hire an EV you can get a fuel card to re-fuel with

Good luck hiring any car today and wanting to pay entirely with cash.
The same applies to many other industries, such as booking a stay at a hotel, buying a flight to somewhere, even taking a local bus journey in some areas.

 

[scbk]

In some of them. Certainly not all. Smartphone app or call a number to pay via some automated affair is commonplace.


Good luck hiring any car today and wanting to pay entirely with cash.
The same applies to many other industries, such as booking a stay at a hotel, buying a flight to somewhere, even taking a local bus journey in some areas.

Can't even buy a burger with cash!!

"Burger King UK went cashless as a safety response to Covid-19 in order to keep our team and guests safe. We are now testing bringing back cash in a small number of restaurants and are monitoring the guest and team feedback."