Fivers

[Caran]

In "The olden days" with the old white five pound notes, did you have to sign them on the back or am I remembering something that didn't exist?

[craft1948]

Well I'm 63 and I've never heard of that...............

[sandyRoe]

There were so many forgeries about that lots of shopkeepers wanted you to sign them.
Here in NI there are so many forger £50 notes floating about lots of shops won't take them.
Inflation, eh?

[plautus]

Yes, in case it turned out to be a forgery. At one point that was a week's wages or more. This wasn't law, but many retailers would insist on it.

[craft1948]

Actually I don't think we were rich enough to ever have one...........

[Buenchico]

I think that you need to increase the medication, Carandrog!
;-)

If I recall correctly (which, at my age and state on inebriation is probably quite unlikely) an uncrossed cheque, payable to 'Alf Bloggs' could (at the bank's discretion) be paid into the account of someone else if Mr Bloggs had signed on the back of it.

The only signature that should appear on an English banknote is that of the Governor of the Bank of England. Anyone else signing it (or writing on it in any way whatsoever) would be committing a criminal offence.

[plautus]

Then a lot of people must have committed a criminal offence because it was common practice. If you were lucky enough to have a used £5 note the chances were that there would be a signature or two on the back. They were withdrawn from circulation in 1957.

[hc4361]

Never heard of such a thing and under the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928 it is illegal to deface a bank note.
What would it prove by putting a signature on a note? How many signatures would one note end up with during its life span?

[paddywak]

Quite right defacing coinage (or notes) of the realm was and as far as I know still is a criminal offence. I don't know when the old "white" fiver's went out of circulation but I'm 63 and can't remember them but then again it might just be that dad didn't earn enough to get them.

[Caran]

This came up in conversation tonight with friends and it was niggling away at the back of my head that you had to sign them, friends laughed at the idea so I said I would ask the experts, so thanks folks.

[Sqad]

Nope.....never heard of such a thing.

[starone]

We were too poor for me ever to have had the opportunity to sign one. In fact I don't think I have ever seen one.

[sandyRoe]

And we were so poor that even if we had one we would have had nothing to sign it with.