A more subdued entrance and exit this time…
14 Oct 2021
Dear LPG,
With everything else that has been going on over the past couple of years’ cash has been relegated to way down many a person’s list of priorities somewhat. I am by no means suggesting that it is at the bottom but, when it comes to things financial and with the backdrop of Covid-19 which has overshadowed everything; simply because getting out has been such a problem and indirect shopping has taken precedence for so many more of us.
When the £5.00 became plastic in September 2016, the changeover was headline news and, about a year later, the then new £10.00 note got its day in the limelight. But the £20.00 note’s big transformation was somewhat eclipsed by the news of the oncoming pandemic and the poor £50.00 has really crept in under the radar although it is well and truly with us now having made its debut on June 23rd this year.
We all remember being warned about when the old paper £5.00 and £10.00 note ceased being legal tender about a year after the new ones appeared, but the £20.00 has been given a bit of a reprieve with its old-note-exit date being September 2022, which will also be the official retirement day of our old £50.00 note.
It occurs to me that we often don’t even notice the subtle differences when a new note is issued and its predecessor expired. I found a website with pictures of some of the older ones that we were once so used to. I find it somewhat haunting to look back and wonder what LPG readers feel when they see the old retired versions.
I have still only seen pictures of the new £50.00 note at the time of writing this message and that is not because I am not used to handling such big notes, but it makes for a worrying situation. I think that the corporate world, and that of government, live in hope that none of these notes will be needed for much longer and it is we, the oldies who will be most affected once we can finally get out and about again.
UG, Lewisham.
UG offers us an opportunity to look both forwards and backwards at UK paper spending power over the years…
