On a good day, you might get fifty p in here.

http://www.coincraft.com/

I heard conflicting opinions: some people said NO. Some people who seemed to be knowledgeable

said that some businesses accept them because they can exchange them at

their banks. It sounded like banks do accept them from their

clients.

Any advice? Do you think it is OK to leave them as tips

No value to the recipient.

Even IF they were still legal tender, why would you want to leave them as a tip knowing the server would have to try to find a bank willing to exchange them in order to get actual spendable currency in return?!? That's an astoundingly inconsiderate plan.

Some useful information here: http://www.royalmint.com/help/help/how-can-i-dispose-of-demonetised-coins Please note that the Bank of England does not offer an exchange service for demonetised coins, and their advice is to contact the Royal Mint. The Royal Mint advises that *some* banks *may* offer an exchange service for demonetised coins. However, this is not guaranteed. A banknote that has been withdrawn from circulation retains its value because the Bank of England guarantees that it will exchange it for a new one (a service commonly offered by most banks too). A demonetised coin, on the other hand, has no intrinsic value, as it is not guaranteed that it can be exchanged at face value for legal tender. If you leave demonetised coins as tips you are essentially leaving your waiter or waitress worthless pieces of cupronickel. They could try to exchange them at a bank, or through a private company, or sell them as scrap metal, or to tourists as souvenirs, but that is not how waiting staff expect to earn their tips. If I were a waiter I would definitely think that it was not OK. Your best option is to try to exchange or sell them yourself so that you have coins which are legal tender, not to pass on this responsibility to somebody else.

How many do you actually have? !! Not worth the bother I would have thought.

You might as well leave buttons as a tip instead of obsolete coins. At least buttons could have some use! Better to leave no tip at all than something patently worthless which would just seem like an insult, or even a suggestion that service had been unacceptable & was only "rewarded" with something useless.

I remember when the UK went decimal in 1971. We (the UKBT family) still have a self framed coin collection of the old money (thruppence, sixpence, shilling, two shillings, half a crown, some with King George VI as "heads"). While I'm sure a bank somewhere would trade it in for the full value of 31p I think we'll keep it for posterity.

The same applies to old-size 5p and 10p coins. If a coin is demonetised, then it becomes of scrap value. Fortunately, the scrap value is quite high. I believe Lloyds Bank will exchange then at par, but for a pre 1947 florin or half crown, which contain real silver, you can get about £3 from dealers. I believe Age UK will also take such coins, plus real coppers, to sell for their metal value for the charity.