Using £20/£50/£100 silver coins at face value - what are your experiences?

[arphethean]

I'm intrigued to hear if folk on the forum have tried using £20/£50/£100 face value silver coins to pay for things or settle debts. Were you successful or not? Tell us the story!

Edited October 15, 2023 by arphethean

[Petra]

None, but now you have a few, why not nip into town and try using one or two?😮🤔😂

[AaaGee]

Had my boiler serviced a couple of years ago and paid with 3x 2021 silver brits.

He was a mates boss who fancied a little silver to give to his grand kids for Christmas.

[silvergaga]

Great idea, I have to have mine serviced next month, will try this too, ta.

[AaaGee]

1 minute ago, silvergaga said:

Great idea, I have to have mine serviced next month, will try this too, ta.

Let us know how you get on 👍

[srh2023]

As many on the Forum will no doubt know, legal tender is a very specific legal concept. Once a debt has been established, offering legal tender is a complete defence to any subsequent legal action based on the debt. For example, you do some work for me (say service a boiler) and the bill comes to £300. I offer you £300 in one pound coins in settlement of that debt and you refuse to accept them. I tell you to go away and you subsequently sue me on the debt. I have complete defence to your claim because I can plead the defence of "tender". Base metal coins below £1 are only legal tender to specific amounts (for example 1p and 2p are legal tender to 20p). 

The general public have a misconceived understanding of what legal tender means. That said, anyone refusing PM coins offered at face value for tender would be mad given their metal value far exceeds the face value. 

[VGfine]

I remember using £5 coins in the 1980s or early 1990s no problem but I imagine people heads would fall off if I tried to use one now!

[arphethean]

11 minutes ago, srh2023 said:

That said, anyone refusing PM coins offered at face value for tender would be mad given their metal value far exceeds the face value. 

Thanks for the info. I am specifically talking about coins where the face value is higher than the metal content

[srh2023]

Just now, arphethean said:

Thanks for the info. I am specifically talking about coins where the face value is higher than the metal content

There is no difference. The legal position is the same. 

[stefffana]

2 minutes ago, arphethean said:

Thanks for the info. I am specifically talking about coins where the face value is higher than the metal content

I have not bank debts, but in December I need to do full service and MOT to my car. I will let them do the work and I will be in debt to Halfords. I will update then with results.😁

 

[stefffana]

Recently, @NGMD tried to help me with my legal tender coins. He can share his experience on this page, I am sure this will be helpful for all of us.

Thank you publicly, @NGMD!🤗

[NGMD]

Appreciate the kind words @stefffana👍

Excuse the cheap gags in the post but this is the definitive outcome.

 

[NGMD]

1 hour ago, srh2023 said:

As many on the Forum will no doubt know, legal tender is a very specific legal concept. Once a debt has been established, offering legal tender is a complete defence to any subsequent legal action based on the debt. For example, you do some work for me (say service a boiler) and the bill comes to £300. I offer you £300 in one pound coins in settlement of that debt and you refuse to accept them. I tell you to go away and you subsequently sue me on the debt. I have complete defence to your claim because I can plead the defence of "tender". Base metal coins below £1 are only legal tender to specific amounts (for example 1p and 2p are legal tender to 20p). 

The general public have a misconceived understanding of what legal tender means. That said, anyone refusing PM coins offered at face value for tender would be mad given their metal value far exceeds the face value. 

Sorry, not the case. I have posted a guide in response. Gold- yes.
A lot of silver coins have a ‘face value’ of £50 or £100 but the actual metal is just 1oz. You have to know the difference between circulated and legal tender. It’s a con, questionable and guess it was never thought of as form of barter for actual face value by RM.

[Bigmarc]

1 hour ago, srh2023 said:

The general public

I am general public and I still dont understand. 

Is £100 coin worth £100 or £20?

[Petra]

7 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

I am general public and I still dont understand. 

Is £100 coin worth £100 or £20?

Join the club☀️😮(yet another one😁)

[stefffana]

11 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

I am general public and I still dont understand. 

Is £100 coin worth £100 or £20?

It is worth any number between £37.48 (today's spot) and £100 (paying debts or in court).

I have asked dealers and their offers are in a range of 60%-70% of face value. Of course, I declined.

On Ebay, there are people willing to pay over £85 for £100 face value. See screenshots.

So, definitely a £100 coin is worth more than £20.

[Bigmarc]

2 minutes ago, stefffana said:

So, definitely a £100 coin is worth more than £20.

Ha, didn't know it was more than an ounce. 

I think I will ban myself from this thread.

In all honesty I don't think I would have the balls to pass it off as £100. What's the male version of a Karen called?

[AaaGee]

27 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

Ha, didn't know it was more than an ounce. 

I think I will ban myself from this thread.

In all honesty I don't think I would have the balls to pass it off as £100. What's the male version of a Karen called?

A Geremy Vine?

Edited October 15, 2023 by AaaGee

[srh2023]

On 15/10/2023 at 15:50, NGMD said:

Sorry, not the case. I have posted a guide in response. Gold- yes.
A lot of silver coins have a ‘face value’ of £50 or £100 but the actual metal is just 1oz. You have to know the difference between circulated and legal tender. It’s a con, questionable and guess it was never thought of as form of barter for actual face value by RM.

I am talking about legal tender value. A £100 coin has a legal tender value of £100, that I can assure you. I have explained what legal tender means from a law perspective. What the metal spot price might be is neither here nor there. What I am explaining is legal tender. If you have incurred a £100 debt and offered a £100 legal tender coin in satisfaction of that debt and it was refused, you would have a complete defence in court to any action based on that debt. That is plainly the legal position. 

[SidS]

Are the £100 coins of unlimited legal tender?

I know for example that coins denominated in pence have limits and that for example no banknotes are legal tender in Scotland - even the Scottish ones.

[stefffana]

4 minutes ago, SidS said:

Are the £100 coins of unlimited legal tender?

I know for example that coins denominated in pence have limits and that for example no banknotes are legal tender in Scotland - even the Scottish ones.

Coins with face value over £1 can be any amount.

See on Chards site: https://www.chards.co.uk/guides/legal-tender/5

 

[NGMD]

33 minutes ago, srh2023 said:

I am talking about legal tender value. A £100 coin has a legal tender value of £100, that I can assure you. I have explained what legal tender means from a law perspective. What the metal spot price might be is neither here nor there. What I am explaining is legal tender. If you have incurred a £100 debt and offered a £100 legal tender coin in satisfaction of that debt and it was refused, you would have a complete defence in court to any action based on that debt. That is plainly the legal position. 

Don’t shoot the messenger fella. I did my homework to help a member because it needed clarification.

I would summarise- any Mint can put an amount and say ‘X amount legal tender’ but your contract is with the mint. There has been many failed legal challenges and sellers wouldn’t be selling at 70% of face value if it was legal. 
Spot price is important because a 1oz Gold Brit is legal tender of £100 but worth £1600 of actual gold. You wouldn’t pay a £100 debt with a Brit. 
Not my interpretation, just from RM.

[Petra]

4 hours ago, stefffana said:

Coins with face value over £1 can be any amount.

See on Chards site: https://www.chards.co.uk/guides/legal-tender/5

 

I think there are limits in Scotland regard’s English stuff? Otherwise I think it is rare for this to cause issues. For example, I will only use ‘coppers’ to make up totals when paying in cash, i.e. £4.26….could pay the 26 in coppers.

[8ace]

Interesting thread. 

Another thought is whether the person/company being paid believes what they are being given has the value indicated. The only reason Fiat currency works (which is just low value paper/metal) is because we can easily see its value and trust we can use it ourselves. 

A £1 coin is worth £1 even if it looks a bit dodgy, because most will accept it. A Scottish £ note has problems because that underpaid restaurant person doesn't want the aggravation of deciding if it's real or not. 

As I said, an interesting thread and I'm also keen to hear of any stories.