Same problem for me with about 800 pounds in old notes.
I went to the CBA and they sent me to the RBA. The RBA referred me to the Bank of England.
The BoE email address is
[email protected]
I contacted BoE and they replied within the same business day as follows:
Thank you for your email.
You may be interested to know that all genuine Bank of England notes that have been withdrawn from circulation retain their face value for all time and can be exchanged with the Bank of England in London. Any such notes may be presented for payment either in person during business hours (there is no need to make an appointment), or sent to us by post.
There is no fee for this service, and no limit to the amount of banknotes you can exchange. Please note that you may need to provide proof of ID for any exchange of any value, or to provide more information or evidence to support the origin of the banknotes.
To find out more about exchanging withdrawn Bank of England notes, including our opening hours, address, acceptable proof of ID, and to download the form that you will need to fill in and send with your banknotes should you wish to exchange notes by post, please visit
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/exchanging-old-banknotes
I hope the above information is of assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any further questions.
Kind regards
(staff members name)
Engagement and Enquiries | Communications
Bank of England | Threadneedle St | London EC2R 8AH | +44 (0)20 3461 4878
If I recall the instructions correctly if you return the notes by post they will send a bank cheque in pounds sterling which is not the desired outcome as they are just exchanging the notes for a BoE cheque.
I still have my notes. Perhaps all those wishing to swap old notes for new notes should PM one another and the first AFFer that travels or has a contact that travels might be able to do a swap for us all ??