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submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by War5oldier@lemmy.world to c/askuk@feddit.uk

Like, what’s the point of its existence when that denomination is difficult to come by since ATMs don’t disperse them. I mean, will they still refuse a £50 note when paying for a £45 purchase? They go full counterfeit detection mode just because an individual has it despite that being the real one (not fake). Also, why does the Bank of England keep printing more of that when they know people barely use it anyway?

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[-] mannycalavera@feddit.uk 7 points 5 months ago

When I was at Uni and working part time my boss told me it was because the £50 note was easier to forge so they would want us to check it and ideally not accept it. The explanation of which I accepted without question at the time. LOL I didn't give a shit.

But thinking about it more why would a large denomination be any easy or harder to forge than a lower one?

So I don't know actually.

[-] Denjin@feddit.uk 13 points 5 months ago

FWIW, it's not about the note being harder for forge, but people are less familiar with handling them because they are so rarely used, therefore people are less likely to pick up on the clues that it's a fake. A point that's largely moot now considering how few people use cash for anything any more.

[-] brewery@feddit.uk 7 points 5 months ago

Good explanation and just to add, it's probably only slightly more expensive to produce a fake £50 than a fake fiver (materials, effort, etc) but it's worth 10 times as much. It's also the same risk of getting caught but 10 times the result each time

[-] teft@piefed.social -3 points 5 months ago

Why not do what other countries do and just make the denominations physically larger as the value increases? Now it’s harder to wash and reprint forgeries. Also if you use different color paper for each denomination you have another way to prevent forgeries of the washing and reprinting kind.

[-] mannycalavera@feddit.uk 1 points 5 months ago
[-] teft@piefed.social -4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Yes, downvote for asking why not fix your broken currency. That’ll encourage discussions.

You asked:

But thinking about it more why would a large denomination be any easy or harder to forge than a lower one?

I explained why your large bills are easier to forge.

[-] Denjin@feddit.uk 1 points 5 months ago

British money already is different sizes and printed in different colours.

[-] teft@piefed.social 0 points 5 months ago

I guess brits can't read an entire thread since someone already said that.

[-] Denjin@feddit.uk 2 points 5 months ago

I guess people from wherever you're from don't understand anything they're talking about before commenting online.

this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2026
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