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I owe a £5,000 debt and I wished to make payment in the pettiest but legal way possible.

I would like to pay entirely in cash, I'm aware there is a previous case history in doing such a thing and I am aware there are rules regulating how many coins to value are legal tender.

I have prepared sorted piles of coins based on my basic understanding of what is legal tender:

  • 20 * 1p = 20p
  • 10 * 2p = 20p
  • 92 * 5p = £4.60
  • 50 * 10p = £5
  • 50 * 20p = £10
  • 20 * 50p = £10
  • 4970 * £1 = £4970

I believe at this point this would be an acceptable form of payment.

I mix all these coins into one massive sack.

I then fill the sack with an assortment of confetti.

Just as I prepare to take the sack to make payment, my child who I have been teaching the value of money tips in a till full of fake coins. I don't have time so I delivery the sack as payment as is.

Have I paid in a way in which the creditor cannot refuse payment? At what point are they justified in their refusal? Am I responsible for the sorting of coins? Am I liable for the cost of time involved in sorting?

Although I am looking for an answer in a British context I'm happy to hear how this may differ in other countries.

Clarification: This question is entirely hypothetical.

Mark Berry
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  • In the US, coins are legal tender, but private businesses are not required to accept them. To who do you owe the debt? A private business or a governmental unit? – Ron Beyer Apr 05 '19 at 17:39
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    Related: Can you pay a restaurant bill in pennies? – Ron Beyer Apr 05 '19 at 17:39
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    @RonBeyer I am not from the UK, but in the US, it is mandatory that you be allowed to pay a debt in legal US tender. – Putvi Apr 05 '19 at 17:48
  • @Putvi This is also my understanding in the UK – Mark Berry Apr 05 '19 at 17:58
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    Based on what though? Legal tender is called legal tender because the government has endorsed it. There is no law or case or any other reason why that would not be true. – Putvi Apr 05 '19 at 17:59
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    I guess they can always say "Ok, wait while we count them. Of course you will not get the receipt until we are finished. Oh, and do not leave because we do not want you to be able to claim that we took some of your coins away". At least that is what I would do. – SJuan76 Apr 05 '19 at 18:12
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    And something like that happened to a relative of me who was working as a clerk at the Tax Bureau (Spain), someone with 3 backsacks of coins appeared to pay a fine. The funny thing is that when processing the fine it was discovered that his allegations had been accepted and he had no longer to pay it, so he was told to return to the office to get his bags back. – SJuan76 Apr 05 '19 at 18:15
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    I imagine having the confetti and fake coins is enough for them to refuse, claiming you are not offering money. In any case, remember that you likely also want a receipt of some kind stating your debt is satisfied in full. They could make you wait there the whole time as they sort the coins and if you left early, claim the amount was insufficient. – pboss3010 Apr 05 '19 at 18:28
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    Another possible reacion, the clerk could just look at the bag and say "there are only 4561.56 pounds here". And when you claim that there are 5000 pounds, the clerk points you to an empty table and say "stack them there to prove that my count is wrong". – SJuan76 Apr 05 '19 at 18:43
  • Even if I knew the answer without researching it, I would be disinclined to do so when the expressly stated purpose of spite. – ohwilleke Apr 05 '19 at 22:01
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    This is probably legal, but would probably only stand if you paid the debt in court and/or counted out all the coins in front of them. Not worth it just to be petty. – Beefster Jul 26 '22 at 21:59

3 Answers3

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In English law, "legal tender" is effective in only one situation: the defence of "tender before claim".

In practice, in order to maintain such a defence, you must pay the money into court with a copy of the claim form and defence. See CPR37.2 and section 6 of the Courts Funds Rules 2011.

Unfortunately for you, the Court Funds Office expects to be paid by cheque, though the rules say that ordinarily a cheque or banker's draft is acceptable. See section 7 of the court funds rules. To pay in cash, you the Accountant General would have to direct otherwise.

There might be some exceptionally unlikely situation in which a court might accept a very awkward set of coins, but so unlikely is it as to be discounted.

The upshot of all this is that, although in theory one can offer to pay in legal tender as a defence to a claim in debt, in practice the rules for legal tender are irrelevant - the rules of the Court Funds Office are what prevail.

Francis Davey
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Your payment can be refused in

Nobody is obligated to take more than 50 coins in legal tender under MünzG §3, as I already elaborated here. The only custom that gets social pressure to accept such a payment is bridal shoes, which customarily are to be paid in small change as that is considered to bring good luck. Otherwise, nothing forces them to accept a pile of loose change.

Only the Bundesbank is required to accept any amount of coins, for the purpose to change them for others or bills of higher denomination.

Your split is not legal in

Your payment is to be £5000. That is more than £10. As such, any denomination smaller than £1 is not legal tender for that transaction. You have to pay with 5000 £1 coins to be on the legal side and have the most coins possible.

Padding the bags... in general

Adding confetti to "pad the bags" might be seen as an attempt to cover up missing coins. The presence of fake coins definitely crosses the bridge to fraud - the mere giving them away knowing they are fake is fraud.

Trish
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As long as you pay them, they are paid.

Putvi
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    I'm not sure that this is true. At least in the US it is not, private businesses can decline payment in certain forms (such as pennies, $100 bills, etc). You see it quite often here (a sign saying "$100 bills not accepted"), and many places of business have done away with cash entirely. – Ron Beyer Apr 05 '19 at 17:42
  • Opps, I meant to put my comment here. Legal tender must be accepted in the US and UK. @RonBeyer – Putvi Apr 05 '19 at 17:50
  • My question is aimed more at the way in which the payment is delivered, the liability for sorting of the coins and the rights of the creditor to refuse me. If it's unclear I'm happy to take edit suggestions to clear things up. – Mark Berry Apr 05 '19 at 18:03
  • I understand, and it is still true that as long as you pay them you payed off the debt even if you give them trouble. They are probably going to tell you to never come back though, so just as a friend, make sure its not a place you want to go again. lol – Putvi Apr 05 '19 at 18:09
  • Actually the very OP does link to a page that explains that there are legal limits to the amount of how many coins of several types can be considered "legal tender", and a cursory search shows limits for other countries (https://www.gov.sg/news/content/today-online-mas-eyes-limits-for-payments-with-coins). And do not forget that some countries do limit the amount that can be paid with cash (to fight money laundering), which imposes an additional limit. – SJuan76 Apr 05 '19 at 18:26
  • @SJuan76 all that is could and if stuff. As of now, its legal to pay with coins. – Putvi Apr 05 '19 at 18:30
  • @Putvi I think you are missing the point - in the UK there are hard limits on currency amounts which are legally considered "legal tender", so there are many situations where "its legal to pay with coins" is not the case and a creditor can legitimately refuse payment without endangering the debt. –  Apr 06 '19 at 04:10
  • @Moo, No law in the UK says that legal tender is not accepted. – Putvi Apr 06 '19 at 16:54
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    @Putvi yup, definitely missing the point. In the UK the 1p penny coin is legal tender. Simultaneusly, in the UK 1000 1 penny coins in a single transaction are not legal tender. In the UK "legal tender" includes quantity limits. –  Apr 06 '19 at 21:59
  • But when have you paid? You have paid when the money is counted. I once bought a brand new car in cash with 170 bank notes. It took a while. 5,000 coins takes a lot longer. So you will have to wait a few hours for me to count the coins. – gnasher729 Jul 29 '22 at 07:05