Money Trouble

Silly me. For years on end I have no cash problems at all, and then three times in a single day! The main problem was my not being fully appreciative of the fantastic four, Elizabeth Fry, Charles Darwin, Adam Smith and Sir John Houblon. In my shopkeeping days I knew the fantastic four by heart, but then they were the George Stephenson, Charles Dickens, Michael Faraday and Sir Christopher Wren.

First off was a dirty look from the checkout girl at Morrisons. “This five pound note doesn’t look right” she said looking suspiciously at the picture of the George Stephenson. But she relented and tucked the offending fiver (withdrawn from circulation in November 2003) into her till.

Minutes later the wife and I were in the supermarket car park. She kindly went off to return the trolley and retrieve my pound coin. “This one’s dodgy” she said, examining the edge of the coin and taking a bite at the metal. “Definitely a forgery” she continued.

Back at home I retreated to the local cafe with the Daily Telegraph for a remedial cup of tea and a sandwich. “Can’t take that!” announced the lady at the till (rather loudly) as she examined the ten pound note I had proffered. “It’s an Elgar”. Regretfully I remembered that the ten pound note featuring Sir Edward Elgar was withdrawn in June of this year and only Adam Smith counts for real. Ouch!

Anyway I am now a wiser man. I’ve even learned to identify Sir John Houblon (above), the first governor of the Bank of England. Not that I ever get to see fifty pound notes (on which his portrait appears) in real life.