“Why Cant They Use £&@# Dollars!”

The title of this post was the frustrated rant a dear friend once used in King’s Cross station. He’d flown all night without sleeping, got confused by The Tube, and was hungry and thirsty. We had a few minutes before our train for him to grab a snack so he walked up to a kiosks. He gets himself a bottle of Coca-Cola and sandwich. When it comes time to pay, the pulls out a sundry handful of pounds and pence, not really sure what’s what. He makes a valiant effort to pull out some coins, guessing their value. Plopping them down on the counter, the attendant says he needs more. Once more diving into his pocket, he returns with some more change. Again, he didn’t come up with the right change.

It was then that his frustration level reached its zenith. The Chris Farley-esque man throws down all his luggage, his coat, and his bottle of Coca Cola in order to pitch a fit. Screaming at the top of his lungs, but at no one in particular he screams the title of this post. I didn’t know whether to feel embarrassed, scared, or laugh at him. So I did all three.

With that in mind, here’s a run down of the UK currency.

Much like the U.S. system, they operate on pence (our cents) and pound (our dollars). Their currency breaks down as follows:

• Coins
  • 1 penny coin (small, round copper coin)
  • 2 penny coin (large, round copper coin)
  • 5 pence coin (small, round silver coin)
  • 10 pence coin (large, round silver coin)
  • 20 pence coin (small, 7 sided silver coin)
  • 50 pence coin (large, 7 sided silver coin)
  • 1 Pound Coin (small, thick , golden coin)
  • 2 Pound Coin (large, silver and golden coin)

All coins have the head of the reigning monarch stamped on the front.

• Banknotes
  • 5 Pound Note
  • 10 Pound Note
  • 20 Pound Note
  • 50 Pound Note

The interesting thing about UK Notes is that the larger the denomination, the larger the piece of paper the banknote is printed on. Also, intriguing to Americans, each denomination of banknote is printed in a different color.

Now, how do we get our hands on these babies?

• Take your dollars or credit card to your departing airport. Exchange there.
• Order currency via website like travelex.com
• Get your bank to procure currency for you
• Take your dollars or credit card with you, Exchange currency upon arrival.
• Take your dollars with you. Exchange currency at a bank or currency exchange.
• Take your ATM card, withdraw currency in pounds.
• Take your credit card, let your card provider do the currency conversion for you.

There is one more option that I simply do not recommend: travelers’ cheques. They are no longer universally accepted and some places even place a service charge on you even if they do accept.

For the past 10 years, there was a general rule: the destination airport was the best place to exchange money. And this remains true, by and large. Although I’ve noticed that banks outside of touristy areas offer a decent rate, too. Another truism was that it was smart to walk around with a little pocket change for whatever country you were in but to use your credit card for most purchases. Regretfully, this is no longer a universal truth. In the search for revenue, banks no longer offer competitive exchange rates on using their card and many now charge a convenience charge for each transaction in a foreign currency.

It seems that the best exchange rates, as long as your bank doesn’t charge outrageous fees, is to do as Nancy recommends, have enough currency for a taxi, newspaper, coffee, etc for the airport but to withdraw using your ATM card.

As for us, we still like using travelex’s online ordering. Its not the best rate but they have a 100% guaranteed buy back and they fedex your currency to you. Easy Peasy.