Scottish Vote for Independence

[DanieMarie]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

The Aussie and NZ dollars and cents are different.... but I've seen NZ 50c pieces accepted here as 20c pieces, cos they're the same size! Technically not legal tender :P but the pop up often enough!

That's the same as the US and Canadian dollars. The bills are totally different, so no one would mix them up, but the coins are all the same sizes and colours. Sometimes, Canadian coins will end up in US change, but when they spot them, they reject them on the spot. In Canada, people use US coins all the time and even though they're not legal tender, they're pretty much always accepted on par with Canadian coins (even when the CAD was higher!)

The Euro is different though. A Euro coin is always a Euro coin. Each country mints its own and they have a common first side and a national second side, and each country mints different marks into them. They're still accepted everywhere, though. It's a common currency and that was the whole point!

The pound is similar to the Euro. The pound you get in Scotland is not a different currency than the pound you get in England. The Scots Pound was done away with years ago in favour of the Pound Sterling. The Scots print different images on the pound notes there, but it is still the Pound Sterling and should be legal tender in England.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

Yeah I don't get that. Some Scottish friends were telling me that even though it's the pound, they print their own with different pictures on them. It's still the same currency and still worth the same amount of money, but some places in England won't accept it, apparently? WTF is that?

I mean, that is exactly the same as if Germans said "we're not accepting Euro coins from France". Each country in the Euro zone mints its own version of the coins with different designs but it's still the goddamn Euro and you can use it anywhere, even if it has the "sower" on it instead of Brandenburg Gate.

It's been years since I was stationed in Scotland but even back in the late 70's if we were going to England we'd have to convert our Scottish pounds to English pounds. Bad part was we often had to do the same for going into Ireland or Wales and convert to their pounds other wise you might have to shop around to find someone who'd take the other ones. Of course then we also collect shillings versus pence as that became an issue at times.

[Ula]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

They would stay within the Commonwealth, and keep the Queen as Head of State, but would cease to be a part of the United Kingdom. They would have their own prime minister and parliament, and have said they have their views set to keep the pound and pursue NATO and EU membership.

Thank you.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

It's been years since I was stationed in Scotland but even back in the late 70's if we were going to England we'd have to convert our Scottish pounds to English pounds. Bad part was we often had to do the same for going into Ireland or Wales and convert to their pounds other wise you might have to shop around to find someone who'd take the other ones. Of course then we also collect shillings versus pence as that became an issue at times.

Yeah it doesn't make -any- sense to me whatsoever. There aren't any shillings anymore, either. They reformed that across the board, so the pound has pence that work exactly the same as pennies (100 pence to a pound). The pounds all use the same denominations and are the same colours and sizes. It's just that Scotland prints its own notes (and perhaps Northern Ireland and Wales? Someone will have to tell me - I've never been there!) I could use my English notes just fine in Scotland, and I was told that Scottish ones are -supposed- to be excepted down south, except they often aren't for some random reason that makes no sense. Why even bother having a common currency if you're just going to make people exchange it?

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

It's been years since I was stationed in Scotland but even back in the late 70's if we were going to England we'd have to convert our Scottish pounds to English pounds. Bad part was we often had to do the same for going into Ireland or Wales and convert to their pounds other wise you might have to shop around to find someone who'd take the other ones. Of course then we also collect shillings versus pence as that became an issue at times.

Not for Wales. We've never (legally) had our own currency. And you would only have to change your money for the Republic (South) of Ireland, not the north.

Scottish pounds have always been legal tender. It's just ignorant buggers in England who cause problems. But even if you did change them (to avoid the hassle) there was no exchange rate to bother about. An English pound was always exactly the same as a Scottish pound.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

Not for Wales. We've never (legally) had our own currency. And you would only have to change your money for the Republic (South) of Ireland, not the north.

Scottish pounds have always been legal tender. It's just ignorant buggers in England who cause problems. But even if you did change them (to avoid the hassle) there was no exchange rate to bother about. An English pound was always exactly the same as a Scottish pound.

See, that's what I thought. I thought that they were the same currency like the Euro was the same currency. That's what Scottish friends told me, but they said the same thing...sometimes jerks down south won't take your Scottish money. And people wonder why they want to separate?

Edit: As usual, the Guardian is there to help answer weird questions!

http://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-19878,00.html

Whether the UK stays together or breaks apart, sort it out! This must be a nightmare for tourists. Europe manages to accept each other's versions of their common currency, and European countries hate each other.

[LunarHarvest]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

And the Scottish pound... which causes havoc south of the border even though it's still legal currency...

Scottish pounds have always been legal tender. It's just ignorant buggers in England who cause problems. But even if you did change them (to avoid the hassle) there was no exchange rate to bother about. An English pound was always exactly the same as a Scottish pound.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

Bwahahahaha that's brilliant!

[loststarshine]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

Imho it sounds like Great Brittan is a bit full of themselves. No wonder Scottland wants to be seperated. Sounds like they already have their own currency.

The concept of money is something i have always struggled to understand.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

Imho it sounds like Great Brittan is a bit full of themselves. No wonder Scottland wants to be seperated. Sounds like they already have their own currency.

The concept of money is something i have always struggled to understand.

No, it's not Great Britain now, it's the United Kingdom. And Scotland have their own currency but only up to a point. It's hugely complicated

And thanks for the Michael McIntyre video!

Here's another one that may support the idea that certain parts of Scotland have their own language...

http://youtu.be/U4yeqSgNxiE

[loststarshine]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

The whole money idea in my own country confuses me. And how much a dollar is worth in one area compared to another area is even more confusing. Sorry I am clearly behind on my correct terms. I really dont feel like i was given a proper education about the world.

[Heka]

What's going to happen to the union jack?

[Doc_Holliday]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

What's going to happen to the union jack?

It still looks pretty cool, just more basic.

[Heka]

It still looks pretty cool, just more basic.

<img src="http://www.paganforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3462"/>

Does this mean Australia etcs flags are going to change as well?

[Seren]

Re: Scottish Vote for Independence

What's going to happen to the union jack?

It will more than likely stay the same seeing as the earliest forms of the flag came about when the Scottish and English crowns were united with James VI and I succeeding Lizzie I in 1601 (St Patrick's cross was only added in 1801). We'd still retain Lizzie II if Scotland does vote yes, so there's no real reason to change it.