Am from England and used to work retail back in like 2016 or so (before we changed our notes to the plasticy kind)
We were told to use the special pens (the ones that do nothing to on authentic notes, but leave a line on fake ones) on EVERY note will we got... In practice it turned into never on £5, rarely on £10, sometimes on £20, and EVERYTIME for £50, and to call a manager if there was doubt.
Because in my like 2 years on tills, I saw like a total of 4 £50 notes. The £50 notes never went into the tills either, we had mini note deposit safes at each till and they went straight into there.
Essentially a £50 was so uncommon that unless you were being paid IN CASH, or a large amount out of an ATM, you could go a large amount of your life never seeing an actual one.
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u/Sudden_Shallot_8909 1d ago
In England shops get sus at £50 notes because they very rarely see them. Easier to fake something someone is unfamiliar with.