Honey, I shrunk the new fiver...
THEY are the banknotes of the future, and will soon be found in wallets and purses across the country.
But The Scottish Mail on Sunday has discovered that new plastic currency, which will soon replace traditional paper money, is surprisingly prone to domestic accidents.
Banks have boasted that the polymer £5 bills will last more than twice as long as their predecessors, are cleaner and also harder to counterfeit.
However, our tests found that although the notes survived a 90C washing machine cycle and a spin in the tumble drier, they melted and shrunk to a quarter of their usual size after only a few of seconds under a hot iron whilst hidden – as can so easily happen – in the pocket of a pair of jeans.
The plastic coating also failed to protect against tea and red wine stains.
The first of the notes entered circulation in Scotland last March when Clydesdale Bank produced two million fivers. At the end of this month, the bank confirmed that it will be ceasing production of traditional £5 notes and committing to a full polymer run. The Bank of Scotland and the Royal
Bank of Scotland are set to follow suit next month. The Bank of England will introduce its own polymer £5 note on Tuesday. Old notes will be accepted until the middle of next year when they will cease to be legal tender. The banks plan to start introducing polymer £10 notes next year and £20 bills by 2020.
The UK follows Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which have switched to polymer currency. The banknotes hit the headlines in Canada this summer after a woman reportedly received an $800 reimbursement cheque from the central bank for melted bills. A Clydesdale Bank spokesman said its notes performed well in laundry/washing machine tests, but admitted that they can ‘shrink and melt at temperatures above 120C, so they can be damaged by an iron, for example’.
Explaining how the bank would respond in such cases, he added: ‘Provided there is no doubt to the genuineness of the note, we would consider a number of factors which include whether it is greater in area than half a whole note, and if it bears one complete serial index and serial number.
‘In general, however, we would look at each situation on its own merits. Stained notes for example are not an issue.’