big cheques

[tracymort]

You know those big cheques on Children in Need? Are they valid?

[paulz]

far as i know yes, recall a farmer [protesting about something] wrote one out on a cow, that was valid, dunno how the cashier got it throuigh the 1�" glass gap, let alone the cash drawer [good job it wasn't a frisky bull - imagine trying stamp that!]

[treaclefight]

paulz is spot on, the cheque written on a cow was a work of genius, farmers farm had been repossessed, the cheque was final payment that farmer was forced to make and was indeed, perfectly valid. i applaud him.

[misk111]

I wouldn't believe everything you hear. http://www.snopes.com/business/bank/cowcheck.asp

[Pinotage]

What A P Herbert was doing in his story was takling to the logical conclusion that - at that time - a cheque did not have to be written on the form supplied by a bank but could be written on anything - usually meaning a piece of paper, because all a cheque is is an instruction to your bank, But to be legal a 2d stamp had to be affixed to the cheque.

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People could and did write cheques on things other than the banks form, I recall a check being written on a brick. This was before the times of machine reading and computers and while inconvenient, was possible to process them.

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The big cheques used in charity publicity are just for show. The real cheque is as normal.

[5029]

and if that did really happen, the law has changed since then and this would no longer be valid.

[darth vader]

snopes is wrong. the cow story DID happen

[misk111]

darth vader, I am interested as to how you are so sure the cow story happened.

[misk111]

I apologise for playing devil's advocate, but would love to know why you are defending the authenticity of said story.

[FredPuli]

A cheque is a negotiable instrument. The law in A P Herbert's time did not define any of the bills of exchange, promissory notes and other such instruments in terms of what they were made of. It didn't define 'cheque' even . This is because it was assumed that no definition was needed; most commercial law referred to custom and terms without definitions. So he had his character Haddock write one on a cow.Banks did occasionally take up the challenge and 'honour' jokers' bovine cheques. After all they need only debit one account and credit another in the ledgers and then stamp the cow as cancelled , so it could not remain in circulation. I believe that Herbert foresaw this possibility too and suggested the 'bearer cow' , not payable to a named person but 'To Bearer'; then the cow could be used rather like a banknote and passed around the country a lot, to settle debts, without being cashed for months. Cheques were often seriously written too on scraps of paper or even napkins in restaurants and accepted , no proper form being instantly available.