Currency

hurley

Hello,
I am planning my first trip to Scotland and am wondering about the currency, is the gbp accepted or is there a Scottish pound?

Horizons

Hey @hurley, why not both :P The currency is the GBP (across Scotland and the UK) but the fun thing is that unlike many other countries where its just the treasury or mint that print money, in the UK many banks print out Pound Sterling including quite a few Scottish Banks. What I personally refer to as a Scottish Pound is GBP printed out by a Scottish bank (there are atleast 3 Scottish banks that print notes).

I mention this only because you may be given back a note in Scotland that looks vastly different from the notes you brought in. That is normal. Those notes are legal tender.

In the US, you're mostly issued the Bank of England pound sterling notes which are the best notes to have if say flying through London (because quite a few Underground machines have rejected my Scottish notes).

hurley

Thanks for the tip, only traveling to Scotland but that is great to know.

argyllgirl

Scottish notes are not exchangeable outside of Scotland, only English notes.