Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 171 posts

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#51

Post by chrisseaton »

mrtksn wrote: post #28

It’s really cool that UK puts scientists to its own money. Most countries will go with politicians, buildings and warlords. I have to say that it saddens me to see Darwin go. Considering that the evolution theory is still considered controversial in many places(even in advanced countries like the US) I think it was a very bold move to have him on the note.

> I think it was a very bold move to have him on the note

There's a lot of wacky people with wacky ideas in the UK... but I think almost literally nobody disbelieves evolution here. It's just not a thing on anyone's radar and the small component we have of evangelical christianity is strangely quite an urban middle-class thing. I don't think it was bold at all.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#52

Post by madaxe_again »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #38
madaxe_again wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I very much doubt Turing would have appreciated his name and image being used for propaganda purposes by a government that is scarcely different to the one that murdered him.

Wow. Two absurd hyperboles (what is the plural hyperbole?) in one sentence.

Ah. You see Turing’s suicide as entirely disconnected to his abuse at the hands of the government?

As for scarcely different - Churchill is an idol to the current government, and their regressive policies, their proposal to reintroduce the death penalty, their isolationist nationalism - all of these are things I’m sure he would support.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#54

Post by darrenf »

dkdbejwi383 wrote: post #33
mrtksn wrote: post #28

It’s really cool that UK puts scientists to its own money. Most countries will go with politicians, buildings and warlords. I have to say that it saddens me to see Darwin go. Considering that the evolution theory is still considered controversial in many places(even in advanced countries like the US) I think it was a very bold move to have him on the note.

I think the situation is different in the UK. I've never come across a person who disbelieves evolution. It would be equivalent to a flat-earther or person who genuinely thinks political figures are lizard folk.

The UK does have a Creation Science Movement[0]. My partner and I unwittingly stumbled into their Genesis Expo[1] in Portsmouth the other year – we blindly walked in without noticing the building's name or any paraphernalia, just "ooh, look, fossils". Only when inside did we realise it was full AND THIS IS WHY EVOLUTION IS WRONG stuff.

[0] https://csm.org.uk/

> Founded in 1932 as “The Evolution Protest Movement” by a small group of Christians concerned by the propaganda that was promoting the theory of evolution as if scientifically proven

[1] https://csm.org.uk/genesis-expo/

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#55

Post by varispeed »

hnlmorg wrote: post #44
dan-robertson wrote: post #8

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…

In my experience most places were hesitant because they didn't have the change in the cash register. Anywhere busy with a full register accepted £50 notes happily. edit: to add to that, it used to be that £1 coins were the most forged in sterling cash. I can't say if that's still the case, but at one point it felt like 1 in 3 pound coins were a fake.

It's also that people don't care much about coins. When I used cash more back in the day, I remember going through my change from time to time and I had coins from all over the world passing as pence coins.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#56

Post by vkou »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #38
madaxe_again wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I very much doubt Turing would have appreciated his name and image being used for propaganda purposes by a government that is scarcely different to the one that murdered him.

Wow. Two absurd hyperboles (what is the plural hyperbole?) in one sentence.

Unless the UK has undergone a revolution in the past 80 years, I'm afraid to say that it is still the same government. The people involved are different, but just like in a company, it doesn't matter if the C-suite changes over the years - its still the same organization.

Like a corporation, that government definitely feels bound by the obligations made by its predecessors, and, likewise, feels entitled to receive any obligations owed to it.

To argue otherwise would be to argue that debts, treaties, as well as all prior legislative and executive decisions all disappear every time you hold an election.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#57

Post by paublyrne »

carmen_sandiego wrote: post #14
Symbiote wrote: 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.

I would assume the criteria is what mixture of denominations will require the least regular servicing. An area where the average daily withdrawal is high - ie a wealthy area - will run out more quickly if it's giving out small denominations, but in an area where smaller amounts will quickly be unable to provide the requested amounts if they're serviced with mostly higher ones.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#58

Post by notahacker »

dan-robertson wrote: post #8
carmen_sandiego wrote: post #2

Cool design + polymer, but they should probably just abolish the £50 already. Very few places accept them. Never mind the £100 notes you can get in some parts of the UK. I would say they should encourage better acceptance of these denominations, but cash seems to be dying in general. I look to Switzerland with envy, where as far as I can tell you can stroll into the supermarket and drop a 1000-franc note without issu…

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…

> 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

The £50 notes were perceived as "most likely forged" because - in addition to being temptingly large denominations - they're so rare the average person has never used one and doesn't really know what they look like. There's a vicious circle of course: ATMs don't dispense them and banks are unlikely to unless requested because they're not widely accepted. The £20 note doesn't have that problem.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#59

Post by RobertKerans »

hnlmorg wrote: post #44
dan-robertson wrote: post #8

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…

In my experience most places were hesitant because they didn't have the change in the cash register. Anywhere busy with a full register accepted £50 notes happily. edit: to add to that, it used to be that £1 coins were the most forged in sterling cash. I can't say if that's still the case, but at one point it felt like 1 in 3 pound coins were a fake.

Yep, my experience as well. I worked in a busy club all through university, and we never had an issue accepting £50 notes, but at the quiet bar I sometimes worked at we were sometimes hesitant to accept them as it tended to wipe out the float.

Minor, and probably specific to busy bars, but it did come up: there's also the practical issue of where you put a £50 note as there's no space for it in a register. So you kinda shove them at the bottom of another stack, but there's the danger that when you're very busy and handing change back you'd grab it without looking. So always had to tell another staff member there was a £50 in the register, and ideally that register got emptied asap.

Re: New Alan Turing £50 note design is revealed

#60

Post by londons_explore »

dan-robertson wrote: post #8
carmen_sandiego wrote: post #2

Cool design + polymer, but they should probably just abolish the £50 already. Very few places accept them. Never mind the £100 notes you can get in some parts of the UK. I would say they should encourage better acceptance of these denominations, but cash seems to be dying in general. I look to Switzerland with envy, where as far as I can tell you can stroll into the supermarket and drop a 1000-franc note without issu…

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...
Post reply on HN