Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat
@owlwings (43910)
Cambridge, England
September 15, 2016 9:28am CST
This is Britain's new bank note. It's made of plastic, so it will survive being laundered and it is, so they say, more difficult to counterfeit. All the blood, tears and sweat you like to throw at it won't stain it or leave a mark, either. Plastic money isn't new. Several countries have had it for many years but I think that we're the first country in Europe to introduce it.
Many people have commented that Winston Churchill is not the kind of person who should be venerated by having his portrait printed on a bank note (because of his known upper-class, racialist comments). I just see an image of someone who looks totally disillusioned and sceptical about the economy and the state of leadership today, especially as the quotation they have chosen to print under the portrait is "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
Today £5 would buy me a fairly ordinary bottle of wine, half a kilo of Cheddar cheese, four or five loaves of bread, a little more than half a kilo (about a pound and a half) of lean minced beef steak or just under a kilo of lean pork mince. It would buy me just about a gallon of gasoline. I think that I would get about $6 USD or a little more than 440 Indian Rupees if I were to exchange it at a bank or a post office.
Money is no friend of mine. It is slow to come and quick to go!
20 people like this
22 responses
@CinnamonGrl (7084)
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
15 Sep 16
I need to read in more depth about Winston Churchill. I always had the impression he was a great leader, someone to be admired.People are always more complex than you realize.
That is a damb fine looking bank note. I know it's increasingly difficult to manufacture bills that can't be counterfeited. Does it really feel like plastic to the touch or is it really light?
3 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
15 Sep 16
I had to get the note out again to feel it. Yes, it feels like plastic - rather the kind that you'd expect of a high quality plastic carrier - and quite unlike even a new paper note. Parts of it are smooth and shiny but the parts where the image of the Queen (on the other side) are rougher. It's a good deal smaller than our old £5 and smaller than your bills, too. It does feel as though it's going to last a lot longer than paper money would but there is some danger that the notes will stick together, especially when new, and people might inadvertently pay (or receive) more than expected!
4 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
16 Sep 16
@Hatley Cab drivers are often amazing guys Most of ours here are either Asian or Eastern European and, while I have nothing against them for that, their English is often not good and they tend to want to get on to their next job as quickly as possible (I can't say that I blame them for that, either, of course).
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
15 Sep 16
@owlwings some of our bills when new stick to each other once I gave the cab driver what I thought was six dollars a five dollar bill and a one when I got home I was ten dollars short., so a ten stuck to the one and neither of us saw it. I 'phoned the cab company bu t the drivers were all out but the next time I had the same driver he did not charge me for two trips and refused to take any fare the guy also carried my grocery in for me too really a kind driver.
3 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
15 Sep 16
@egdcltd I seem to remember reading that but you see them all the time on eBay and other places (see the link that Vanny posted above) and I purposely took my photo at an angle and on a darkish surface (so that the wood shows through the clear part). I don't think anyone could make a convincing forgery from it!
3 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16763)
• China
16 Sep 16
To be blunt ,this is the first I hear of a bank note made of plastic.I think Winston Churchill 's achievements outweigh his errors.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
16 Sep 16
They have had polymer banknotes in Australia since 1998 and New Zealand and Canada also have them. I suspect that many more countries will follow because they are far less easy to counterfeit.
Churchill was the right man at the right time but he was very racist and intolerant and wouldn't be tolerated today.
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16763)
• China
17 Sep 16
@owlwings Yes ,Churchill has been a controversial figure,however He rendered great service during WW 2.
2 people like this
@Happy2BeMe (99380)
• Canada
15 Sep 16
We have had plastic money for years now in Canada. You have to watch that you don't put it in the dryer by mistake because if your dyer gets too hot the money will melt. Also, it doesn't fold very easily. So if you fold it and just stick it in your pocket it opens back up and you lose it without even realizing it. I know lots of people who have lost money since the new plastic money came out. Not good for them but others are liking it because they are always finding money on the ground.
3 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
15 Sep 16
Thanks for the warning about the dryer! We used to be able to iron paper banknotes but these, apparently, begin to shrink and melt at temperatures above 120C, so even leaving them in the car on a hot summer's day could be disastrous!
I am always careful with paper money and nearly always put it in my wallet. I know how easy it is to pull out my handkerchief and the odd note at the same time!
3 people like this
@nannacroc (4049)
•
17 Sep 16
I often think my money leaves my purse and spends itself without my help. I was telling the girls the other day how much half a crown could buy when I was a child. I happened to have a half crown coin. The girls were amazed at how heavy it was. I told them it was because money was real then and pockets were stronger.
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
16 Sep 16
I remember when a large loaf cost a shilling (one twentieth of a pound - now 5p and, at that time, probably worth 10 of your cents). We used to have to walk a mile to the baker's and often little mousey fingers had made a hole through the crust into the delicious white inside when the bread arrived home!
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
16 Sep 16
You're welcome to use my photo if you want ... or this one: It's a bit garish, though!
@Juliaacv (51190)
• Canada
16 Sep 16
Welcome to the world of plastic currency-we've had plastic bills for quite a number of years here in Canada.
I am not a fan of them for a number of reasons.
You have to be extra careful with them so that they don't break down and melt, some claim that even body heat (although I find that questionable) will cause them to melt, certainly anything left in a warm car, near the stove when its on or in a pocket of something being laundered will melt when it makes its way into the dryer.
And they tend to be a bit slippery. So if you have some bills in your wallet and you pull one out sometimes a couple extra will come too, maybe static on them, not sure.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
16 Sep 16
They are supposed to be able to withstand heat to 120C which is not very hot and well within what temperatures can rise to in a closed car in the summer. You certainly couldn't iron them and they would almost certainly perish in a tumble dryer.
I have only had the one so far, so I don't know whether they would tend to stick together or not. The official line is that they may do when they are new but that after some handling there should be no problem. I can quite believe that the reality is as you say, though, and that static could be a problem. Ours have been designed to have areas which are slightly rough from the ink and I wonder if this might help.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (51190)
• Canada
16 Sep 16
@owlwings If the money is anything like ours, I wouldn't put that temperature to test. I remember seeing a piece on the news that someone had some bills lying on a side table and they claimed that the heat from a lightbulb in a table lamp melted some bills-I didn't believe that at the time, but given the fact that our banks will not take melted currency I wouldn't want to try it. The melting is the least of it, I dislike the way that it wants to lie flat, folding it, is always temporary. I am more apt to pay for things electronically, as do most people.
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
15 Sep 16
You must need a good size wallet since I would imagine they are much thicker than paper money.
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
15 Sep 16
@owlwings Oh OK, better than I thought it would be.
2 people like this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
15 Sep 16
Can you fold them up ..? Like paper money ? I don't think I like it...
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
16 Sep 16
Yes, they fold but tend to spring back when opened out. I tried making a sharp crease in the note but it didn't stay. I don't like folded or creased notes anyway and always smooth them out when putting them in my wallet. I expect you'll have to experience them when you next visit England!
1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
16 Sep 16
@owlwings thanks ..for that...i'm in the uk now ...and funnily enough I was given a new note this morning in Some change ... 
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (79833)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
15 Sep 16
Personally I think it was high time to have new money coming out with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones on different nominations @owlwings Tired of seeing these old faces
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (471497)
• Switzerland
15 Sep 16
I have read this morning in the Swiss press about ht new plastic bank note. Five British Pound is more or less 6.44 Swiss Francs. If I cross the border (as I usually do) and go shopping in Italy I can buy more or less the same. The cheese may be is a bit more expensive.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
15 Sep 16
I was surprised to see one so soon, I have to admit, but I think that the shop that gave it in change rather prided itself on being the first to get them in our corner of Britain. Perhaps they were using the fact as a cunning way of drawing in customers!
3 people like this
@andriaperry (116936)
• Anniston, Alabama
16 Sep 16
Plastic? Hmm... Ours is still paper and metals.
1 person likes this
