Redeemable?

[Sam172]

On a bank note in the UK it says:

"I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of X"

(X being in this case the value of the note (most commonly in my case, either 5, 10 or 20 pounds sterling))

- *Signed by the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England*


So, does that mean that in theory I could go to the offices of the Bank of England, and demand to be paid X.
I presume that this would be paid in gold, as opposed to land or industry (which we all remember, the Rentenmark was so astutely assured with).


Could this work in practice, if I took down a �20 note to London and demanded (in the nicest possible way) the person on the desk pay me?

[kempie]

The 'promise to pay the bearer' does not indicate in what form the payment should be met but most probably would be coins to the value of...

It definitley would not be payed in gold because Britain left the gold standard in 1931 which broke the link between the Bank of England and the country's gold reserves.

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/history.htm

[Sam172]

Mmmmm....humbug �_�

[stevie21]

They could take your fiver, go into some back office for about the same time that it takes to drink a cup of tea and then come back out and make the payment to you with a �5 note.
There's a fair chance that it'd look *very* similar to the one you handed over.

[slimjim]

I used to work for the Bank of England and can confirm that when people did this, they were given a nice new note of the same value.

[Sam172]

awwww

That's destroyed my childhood dream =(