Submitted on Friday 5th August 2011
Published on Monday 15th August 2011
Current status: Closed
Closed: Wednesday 15th August 2012
Signatures: 3
Abolish the offence of writing on banknotes
Section 12 of the Currency and Banknotes Act 1928 states "Penalty for defacing bank notes. If any person prints or stamps, or by any like means impresses, on any bank note any words, letters or figures, he shall, in respect of each offence, be liable on summary conviction to a penalty not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale"
Level 1 is currently £200. This legislation is clearly obsolete and dates back to the time when many banknotes were completed by hand by tellers in banks, much like cheques are today. Therefore a risk existed that someone could try and change the value of the banknote by altering it. However all banknotes are now machine printed and there is no risk that someone, no matter how skilled, could make a £10 note credibly look like a £20 note. Also, it makes bank tellers and shop assistants who write on banknotes (such as writing 100 on a bundle of 100 notes, or using a counterfeit detection pen) technically criminals.
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