New £20 notes

krus_aragon · 24 Feb 2020

SteveP29 said:
Remember Tomorrow's World putting spoonfuls of cottage cheese on a CD, cleaning it and putting it in a player and it worked perfectly.

Jam was the substance I remember being used in those kinds of demos, with the hilarity that minor surface scratches could still make a disc unreadable.

In fairness, jam or cottage cheese on a vinyl record would not have been fun to clean out of those grooves...

RailUK Forums

furnessvale · 24 Feb 2020

SteveP29 said:
Remember Tomorrow's World putting spoonfuls of cottage cheese on a CD, cleaning it and putting it in a player and it worked perfectly.
Somebody at home tried it, ruined the disc

Totally OT but I remember many years ago Tomorrows World demonstrating the revolutionary new auto single wagon freight train where a single Lowmac came round the bend carrying a 20ft container, no loco or driver to be seen.

What you didn't see was the 08 that had just propelled it before dropping back.

Still waiting for the finished product!

Peter C · 24 Feb 2020

SteveP29 said:
Remember Tomorrow's World putting spoonfuls of cottage cheese on a CD, cleaning it and putting it in a player and it worked perfectly.
Somebody at home tried it, ruined the disc

Ha!

I saw a clip of Tomorrow's World on YouTube where they declared that the laser which read a CD/DVD/LaserDisc didn't detect scratches and so you could put all sorts of marks on them... in my experience that's not the case! Maybe it's a case of Don't do this at home!

-Peter

DaleCooper · 24 Feb 2020

Peter C said:
Ha! I saw a clip of Tomorrow's World on YouTube where they declared that the laser which read a CD/DVD/LaserDisc didn't detect scratches and so you could put all sorts of marks on them... in my experience that's not the case! Maybe it's a case of Don't do this at home!

-Peter

Error correction and laser focusing can cope with minor scratches particularly if they are radial.

Geezertronic · 24 Feb 2020

I received some on Sunday when I visited the cash point. I am surprised there hasn't been a kerfuffle about Tallow like there was when the £5 and £10 notes came out

Peter C · 24 Feb 2020

DaleCooper said:
Error correction and laser focusing can cope with minor scratches particularly if they are radial.

Oh OK - thanks. And now, back to the scheduled programming of £20 notes...

-Peter

Kite159 · 26 Feb 2020

I've come across my first new £20 out in the wilds of Wiltshire, in one of the takings bags for the tills at work.

Felt like a £5/£10 note, but I did notice some of the security features

DaleCooper · 29 Feb 2020

I got my first plastic £20 note today and was dismayed to find it weighs only 8.3% more than a £10 note (0.91g vs 0.84g). Are we being short changed?

Cletus · 29 Feb 2020

Just got some new £20's from a cashpoint in King's Cross station. They're quite a bit smaller than the current ones. I think you need to be careful when handling with the tenners.

Regarding £5's from cashpoints. HSBC in Dover is the only place I've been dispensed them in recent years. Perhaps it's a HSBC thing?

At the other end of the scale I once withdraw £100 from a machine just below Oxford Street (Mayfair I suppose), and two £50's came out!

C J Snarzell · 29 Feb 2020

It's funny you should mention HSBC - there is a chap I speak to at the gym who is a retired bank manager from HSBC. He worked for them for years when it was the Midland Bank. We had a conversation a whole back about the new notes and ATMs. He said you shouldn't be given £50 notes from an ATM but there are a couple of places who have dispensed them. The current paper £50 is the most counterfeit note in the UK. There were talks about binning the £50 altogether but the Royal Mint seems to be going ahead with the new £50s late next year.

The polymer notes have been ear marked for a number of years but the technology has had to be developed in order to ensure they can be securely manufactured. A number of countries already use polymer notes, although I think the USA are still using paper Dollars.

One of the striking things about the new notes is that it is probably the last time the Queen will feature on new releases of British currency. Given that newly designed notes are introduced every 10-15 years I think it's fair to say that her Majesty will not be with us in 2035!!! Interesting that Prince Charles has already had his portraits done in preparation for his coronation so the Mint can begin circulating new notes when the Queen passes away (which hopefully will not be for a number of years!!!)

CJ

scotrail158713 · 29 Feb 2020

Regarding £5 notes from cash machines they are available from the RBS machine on Tranent High Street. However on their own they frequently are unavailable - probably not helped by the fact that any time I’ve withdrawn £10 from it, it gives me 2x£5 notes.

tom1649 · 1 Mar 2020

£5 notes are often available from Post Office cash machines too.

Doppelganger · 1 Mar 2020

C J Snarzell said:
It's funny you should mention HSBC - there is a chap I speak to at the gym who is a retired bank manager from HSBC. He worked for them for years when it was the Midland Bank. We had a conversation a whole back about the new notes and ATMs. He said you shouldn't be given £50 notes from an ATM but there are a couple of places who have dispensed them. The current paper £50 is the most counterfeit note in the UK. There were talks about binning the £50 altogether but the Royal Mint seems to be going ahead with the new £50s late next year.

The polymer notes have been ear marked for a number of years but the technology has had to be developed in order to ensure they can be securely manufactured. A number of countries already use polymer notes, although I think the USA are still using paper Dollars.

One of the striking things about the new notes is that it is probably the last time the Queen will feature on new releases of British currency. Given that newly designed notes are introduced every 10-15 years I think it's fair to say that her Majesty will not be with us in 2035!!! Interesting that Prince Charles has already had his portraits done in preparation for his coronation so the Mint can begin circulating new notes when the Queen passes away (which hopefully will not be for a number of years!!!)

CJ

The £20 note is the most counterfeit in the UK, although that may now change with the new note coming out as one of the reasons for the redesign and change in material from a cotton based one to the polymer is to make forgeries more difficult to produce.

Btw, the Royal Mint strike coins and don't produce banknotes.

Darandio · 1 Mar 2020

tom1649 said:
£5 notes are often available from Post Office cash machines too.

Most of the Barclays ones round here do as well as some Natwest.

RichT54 · 1 Mar 2020

The Lloyds Bank in Guildford has 3 cash machines in the foyer. Two give £10s and £20s, the third gives £10s and £5s and is labelled to indicate this.

Journeyman · 3 Mar 2020

SteveP29 said:
Remember Tomorrow's World putting spoonfuls of cottage cheese on a CD, cleaning it and putting it in a player and it worked perfectly.
Somebody at home tried it, ruined the disc

There was a great spoof of that - I think it was Not The Nine O'Clock News - where they had someone spreading jam on it, smashing it with a hammer, scratching it etc - and still couldn't get the CD out of the case.

Back to the notes - had some Bank of England ones from a NatWest machine in Edinburgh the other day, and I thought they were lovely. Of railway interest, it features an image based on Turner's "Rain, Steam and Speed" painting.

Journeyman · 3 Mar 2020

RichT54 said:
The Lloyds Bank in Guildford has 3 cash machines in the foyer. Two give £10s and £20s, the third gives £10s and £5s and is labelled to indicate this.

I've found quite a few Tesco cash machines have fivers in them.

Kite159 · 3 Mar 2020

Journeyman said:
There was a great spoof of that - I think it was Not The Nine O'Clock News - where they had someone spreading jam on it, smashing it with a hammer, scratching it etc - and still couldn't get the CD out of the case.

Back to the notes - had some Bank of England ones from a NatWest machine in Edinburgh the other day, and I thought they were lovely. Of railway interest, it features an image based on Turner's "Rain, Steam and Speed" painting.

Although I prefer one of the new Bank of Scotland £20s as that features the Forth Bridges

LAX54 · 4 Mar 2020

johntea said:
I always find it strange how spending £20 'cashless' feels like nothing, yet withdraw £20 and it feels like rather a lot of money!

Could it be that is why so many are in such a large amount of debt ? REAL Money you can see and feel, and hand over and know it's gone, plastic, online etc it is not real, almost seemingly 'free' !

Kite159 · 4 Mar 2020

LAX54 said:
Could it be that is why so many are in such a large amount of debt ? REAL Money you can see and feel, and hand over and know it's gone, plastic, online etc it is not real, almost seemingly 'free' !

Like on a night-out, if you started the night with £X of notes in your wallet, and you end the night with nothing in your wallet you know how much you have spent. With contactless/card payments, it's too easy to loss control later on in the night and end up buying expensive bottles of champagne.

C J Snarzell · 4 Mar 2020

Contactless is a really convenient payment method for small purchases but the problem comes if your card goes missing - scrote finds your card & goes on a spending spee before you realise & telephone your bank.

crablab · 4 Mar 2020

C J Snarzell said:
but the problem comes if your card goes missing - scrote finds your card & goes on a spending spee before you realise & telephone your bank.

The only problem that is created is one for your bank, who are paying out for the fraud to reimburse you.

JamesT · 4 Mar 2020

Kite159 said:
Like on a night-out, if you started the night with £X of notes in your wallet, and you end the night with nothing in your wallet you know how much you have spent. With contactless/card payments, it's too easy to loss control later on in the night and end up buying expensive bottles of champagne.

I tend to feel the opposite. I can look at my card statements and see where I’ve been spending. Whereas with cash it’s often stuff without receipts, so all I know is I had £50 and now I have £10 so I’ve spent £40 on something in the last couple of weeks.

AnthonyRail · 6 Mar 2020

RichT54 said:
The Lloyds Bank in Guildford has 3 cash machines in the foyer. Two give £10s and £20s, the third gives £10s and £5s and is labelled to indicate this.

That's a good idea. Round here you get what youre given

Tom B · 6 Mar 2020

crablab said:
The only problem that is created is one for your bank, who are paying out for the fraud to reimburse you.

Does that apply to transactions occurring prior to you notifying them?

Suppose a jakey nicks a contactless card and it isn't discovered for half an hour - they could easily make 5 (I think that's the maximum number of transactions before you have to enter a PIN) transactions of £29.99 during that time.

C J Snarzell · 6 Mar 2020

Is it a maximum of £29.99 per single transaction?

Could Mr Scumbag go into five different places and potentially spend nearly £150.00 in a space of short time?

I've never really found out about contactless limits as I only use my own for odd things each day like a coffee here or a magazine there.

CJ

Mag_seven · 7 Mar 2020

Kite159 said:
With contactless/card payments, it's too easy to loss control later on in the night and end up buying expensive bottles of champagne.

Are you speaking from experience there?

trebor79 · 7 Mar 2020

I hardly ever have to put a pin in on contactless. I don't think there's a limit before a pin is needed. If there is, it's way more than 5.

VauxhallandI · 7 Mar 2020

If anyone would like any facts on the new £20 note please ask me as I have access to the facts in this day and age of pub theories and and armchair twaddle

Key facts to remember - years and years of technical research and end user research went into the design, manufacturer and release of this note and all notes. If you think of something I wage that it had been thought of during this process.

The process of running the currency for a major country and most importantly keeping the confidence of the users in the currency is a complex and difficult job carried out by people with an aggregation of hundreds of years of experience in a very niche market.

The Royal Mint is in Wales and they make coins only.

C J Snarzell · 7 Mar 2020

Am I right in thinking coins & notes are made at separate locations?

I believe the current Chief Cashier Sarah John who's signature is on the new £20 note is only the second female to hold this job - the first being her predecessor Victoria Cleland who left in 2018 thus making this another reason it's a landmark note.

CJ

New £20 notes

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