“Hi George, how’s it going? Did you manage to get rid of all your old tenners at the end of last month?” “Come on John, you know I was never going to ditch Pavarotti and his mate. That old vinyl will be worth a fortune one day”. “No George, tenners not tenors! They went out of date at the end of February”. “But I’d only just recovered from changing my old £1 coins into something resembling a threepenny bit.”

The old £10 note (the one with Charles Darwin on it) can no longer be used as legal tender. If you still have any, you can try paying them into your bank account, but there is no guarantee that they’ll be accepted. The official line is that you have to exchange them via the Bank of England, which means either a trip to London or sending your money by post. If you choose to do that, remember to send it via registered post or some other version where it’s insured.

Over £2billion worth of old tenners still in circulation!

Incredibly, estimates by the Bank of England suggest that there were over £2billion worth of old tenners still in circulation when they ceased to be legal tender. Yes, £2billion!! That represents over a quarter of the total £10 notes in circulation. They have been coming back at a rate of £85m a week.

“I suppose the scores will be next to go?” “Surely you haven’t been hoarding manuscripts with your vinyl?” “No not musical scores, old twenties!” “Oh I see, yes, give it a couple of years and I’m sure we’ll have plastic ones of those too”. George is right, the existing £20 note is due to be replaced by a plastic version in 2020. If you want the answer to the pub quiz question in the meantime, they will carry a portrait of the landscape artist, J M W Turner.

Britain joins a growing list of countries who have exchanged old paper notes for more durable polymer ones. Apparently Australia led the way as far back as 1988. As well as being more durable, the new notes are supposed to be more difficult to copy.

If you’re a fan of paper notes, Money Matters has some good news for you. There are no plans to replace the existing £50 one!