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New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

bbc.co.uk

141–150 of 171 posts

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#141
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many places in London accept them (tourists often bring them, and higher prices make them more useful). With a new, secure design, I expect many more places will start.

That's true, the one place I see them most often is being smuggled out of China. Actually I have gotten them from cash machines in Covent Garden before as well. Since then I've wondered what criteria they use to pick denominations for each area.

It's probably difficult to find something to buy for £5 around Covent Garden, and no problem to spend £50. I'd much prefer some £50 notes than an empty cash machine.

There's also a high cash demand from tourists, and a high nighttime demand (when machines won't be refilled).

> smuggled out of China

That's unfair: completely honest tourists often have £50 notes, regardless of where they come from. The currency exchange office prefers high-ish denominations of most currencies. They take up less space, which matters when everything has to fit in a safe, and are generally in better condition.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#142

Looking at the dates in the article - when Turing was convicted in 1952 the reigning monarch was... Elizabeth II, just like now. That's a long time.

She's a very old woman now and will be dead soon enough. It would be nice if that precipitated the end of the monarchy here. Depose them, seize all their land and other assets, it's only fair. Useless scroungers, the lot of them.

And welcome to the world where complete idiots win presidency with 51 per cent of the vote, or even after losing the popular vote, because federalism says so.

Imagine something like the Brexit referendum every four years.

Shitty leaders are an universal plague.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem was that £50 notes were most likely forged, I think, although I don’t know how true that was. So the solution surely isn’t to get rid of the notes as that just shifts the forgery to the next note down. Surely instead the solution would be higher valued notes being created. But: - I don’t really think the problem is forgery. I think it’s that it is annoying for a lot of shops to make change for £50. - I do…

Making Change for a £50 really isn't hard - it's 2 20's and a 10. Those notes that the cash register is probably already full of...

This is exactly right: you can easily accept £50 notes, because you almost certainly already have some £20 notes which have no purpose — other than making change for purchases of ≤£30 with a £50.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She's a very old woman now and will be dead soon enough. It would be nice if that precipitated the end of the monarchy here. Depose them, seize all their land and other assets, it's only fair. Useless scroungers, the lot of them.

And welcome to the world where complete idiots win presidency with 51 per cent of the vote, or even after losing the popular vote, because federalism says so. Imagine something like the Brexit referendum every four years. Shitty leaders are an universal plague.

[deleted]

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$100 bills are routinely checked in the US, but almost never refused IME.

You can't refuse legal tender as a business in the US. If you suspect counterfeit bills, you need proof (the marker or it lacks some security feature like watermark or strip) and then you're supposed to call the police immediately about it. You can refuse the sale in general... but that's a tricky one left to someone else to answer.

You absolutely can, unless it's being offered to settle a debt.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#147

Looking at the dates in the article - when Turing was convicted in 1952 the reigning monarch was... Elizabeth II, just like now. That's a long time.

It's quite extraordinary. She's met so many heads of state over the years. They all came and went and yet she remains. The first list I found of her meeting US presidents: https://time.com/5333083/queen-elizabeth-trump-visit-preside...

> They all came and went and yet she remains.

She didn't have to be elected..

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About 10yrs of my academic career included studying much of Turing's work, I've read his biography by Hodges multiple times (one of the most incredible books ever written btw, covering in great detail everything you could want to know about Turing, his family, his life and his work), and worked closely with some of the best academics in the country on the subject of Turing. I'm not showing off, and I don't mean to sa…

> I couldn't have done a better job in giving them a good feel for the situation and the pressures, the ideas and personalities involved. Sincerely, I do defer to you for your opinion of Turing's personality - but when I saw the film it was so very disappointing that Turing was written as a lone-genius type - while it didn't drive the plot, I understand it really wasn't what he was like as a person. Come to think abo…

Does mainstream cinema production portray anyone as a _normal person_ ? It doesn't stop to academics. Every single profession has its tropes, and it's quite uncommon in my opinion that there's much deviation on it.

Police officers end their phone conversations abruptly, academics are lone genius, managers consider their employees as slaves, chefs dedicate their life to their art...

Cinema has its codes, good or not, so you shouldn't really expect them to not be there I think !

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#149

Looking at the dates in the article - when Turing was convicted in 1952 the reigning monarch was... Elizabeth II, just like now. That's a long time.

She's a very old woman now and will be dead soon enough. It would be nice if that precipitated the end of the monarchy here. Depose them, seize all their land and other assets, it's only fair. Useless scroungers, the lot of them.

Aw. They're fun for the tourists.

Also look at our neighbours who got rid of their royals and ended up run by Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler and Franco.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#150
post #107

I've lived in London for a while, and I'm still fascinated how uncommon £50 notes were. You try to pay with one and they look at you as if you were some kind of drug lord. Hop over to Switzerland, and you can buy a coffee with a 1000 franc (GBP780) note without any issues.

I know you're exaggerating slightly, but how would a coffee vendor make change for that many francs?

Oh the coffee vendor would just give you the "so... no tips?" look.
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