Demonetising coins. Sell of save?

The US has never demonitised its currency. All coins produced by the US Mint are still legal tender.

Anyone got a link to a press release or something describing the UK demonitisation under discussion here? That sounds like kind of a big deal - and not something a country would undertake lightly (unless we are talking about 2 different things).

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Not a terribly big deal in my opinion. The UK, like pretty much every country, has done that before. When the 5p and 10p coin "became smaller" for example, the old (larger) ones were taken out of circulation. Here is a FAQ page that may be helpful: http://www.royalmint.com/newonepoundcoin/frequently-asked-questions

Christian

 

The term 'demonitisation ' is being used somewhat inappropriately by many posters.

Demonitisation means stripped of all money value for trade or redemption. Coins of Nazi Germany, for example are well and truly demonitised, even if they have value numismatically.

The more accurate term is 'withdrawn from circulation.' The term means just what it says, as coins come through the banks, they are sent back to the mint for re-cycling.

The process with the pound coins is the same as the process when the 50p coin was reduced in size a few years ago. Quite quickly, shops tend not to accept them, as they need to be paid into the bank seperately, but the banks will give you new version for old over the counter. I can still change 1947 pre-decimal shillings for new 5p coins to this day because they were the same size and weight as the first size of 5p coins and can be bagged up with them, they circuted alongside the first decimal 5p for years, as did the florin alongside the 10 New Pence coin. If I were mad, I could hand in a £5 bag of Victorian shillings and get £5 in new money for them, but since they'd be sterling silver this is not going to happen. The bank do ask for £5 bags of the same denomination, they won't change just a few at a time.

The only pre-decimal coins that have not been demonitised are the shilling and florin. This is only because they ride on the coat-tails of the early decimal equivalents.
The sixpence, threepence and half crown were demonitised decades ago. In most cases, the scrap metal value now exceeds the face value anyway. Depending on scrap bronze prices old pennies are worth about 4 times their old money value at a scrap metal yard.

Please ensure that you think 'withdrawn from circulation' almost everywhere you read 'demonitised' in this thread.

The very last thing it means is that hundreds of millions of coins will lose all value overnight. It is probable that they will redeemable indefinitely. Given the little attention that people give to pound coins when using them, unless the new design is radically different, like triangular, square or spherical, the old designs will circulate with the new for some time to come.

I had to pull a couple of pound coins out of my pocket just to see what the design was, the 1997 had 3 leopards, the 2014 has a shield and an older picture of the Queen. But they could have had pictures of Chairman Mao for all I could have told you before looking.

 

So where would you get such old coins exchanged or redeemed once they are taken out of circulation? I read about the BoE's policy for paper money but don't really know about coins ...

Christian

 

i agree, not a big deal but something I fell over by accident. Some folks may know that the new £1 is coming but not many seem to heard that the old is being withdrawn out of circulation.

 

So where would you get such old coins exchanged or redeemed once they are taken out of circulation?

I just take them to my bank and pay them into my account. Not all banks are co-operative, mine is because as a coin dealer I quite often cull loads of post 1947 cupro-nickel coins from bulk accumulations bought.
They will not take less than £5 of any one type, shillings or florins but it is not a chore to save till I have a bagfull. Sometimes the tellers have never seen the older shillings and florins, but as I mentioned above, they are the same size, weight and nominal value as the first series of decimal coins. A word to the manager puts them straight.