THE acceptance or otherwise of Scottish bank notes is one of those pendulums that swing from ignorance to prominence every few years. In the heyday of oil there were often stories of truck drivers in the north-east of England wanting to exchange their English notes for Scottish notes as they got a better exchange rate when they got to their European destination. It happened to me once at a service stop on the A1 in the 1970s.

When living and working in the south-east of England in the late 80s I was frequently questioned when tendering a Scottish tenner. I had two answers. The first was to show the recipient the words on the note which "promised to pay the bearer in Sterling". The second answer that I gave, remembered from my college days, was that all Scottish banks must hold an equivalent amount of Bank of England sterling notes or bonds to be the security against the issue of the Scottish banknotes. I would think that this must still be the case.

Therefore, if your Scottish notes are refused you can accept the refusal or bore the pants off the service supplier with some facts. They usually give up in despair and accept. Another good feeling.

Ian Gray,

Low Cottage, Croftamie.

AS somebody who has engaged more than once with English-based wholesalers on the legal status of sterling notes issued by Scottish banks, I enjoyed Marianne Taylor's column on the issue ("Had your Scottish banknote refused? Time to stay calm", The Herald, April 15). There is, however, a flaw in her argument that contactless payments will render the issue irrelevant and that is that contactless card payments are no more legal tender than Scottish-issued banknotes. In fact, they have precisely the same legal status as the banknote in that acceptance is at the discretion of the receiver.

All we need to happen now for a whole new can of worms to be opened is for English traders to refuse contactless payment from Scottish bank cards.

David Gray,

2 Caird Drive, Glasgow.

MARIANNE Taylor highlights the ongoing frustration of having Scottish banknotes refused in England. The last time it happened to me I pointed out that it is legal tender but to avoid a "rammy" (I was on my way to a wedding) I replaced it with an English £20 note. As I turned to leave I said that I couldn't understand their logic as today's exchange rate valued the Scots £20 note as worth £22.50p English; The look on the two assistants faces was priceless.

Iain McNicol,

Dunvegan, Port Appin, Argyll.

JUDY Murray's £9 doughnuts and the doughnuts who won't accept Scottish banknotes is yet another example which proves the point that many people believe that British is just another word for English, and my English son-in-law informs me that most of these people live in England.

I won't fall into Marianne Taylor's crafty trap and rail against her for suggesting that the next time our Scottish banknotes are refused we should remain Zen-like and say "How could I have been so silly?" I feel pretty confident that Ms Taylor wrote that with her tongue fixed firmly in her cheek. However, next time we trudge to the ballot box, perhaps we should think about doughnuts, and also keep in mind more than40 years of oil wealth we never got, the Vow which was never delivered, and the danger of having the UK's deadly nuclear arsenal housed 23 miles away from Scotland's largest city; and say as we enter the polling booth: "How could I have been so silly?"

Ruth Marr,

99 Grampian Road, Stirling.

THE Liberal Democrat attempt to make non-existent Scottish banknotes legal tender is a pathetic attempt to appeal to Scots who believe the film Braveheart to be an historical documentary ("‘Legal tender’ argument about Scots currency may be settled by bill", The Herald, April 12). So-called Scottish banknotes are IOUs issued by independent commercial banks against deposits they lodge with the Bank of England.

When travelling to a Europe the sensible person takes euros, US dollars for the United States and obviously Bank of England notes for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A similar attempt to play the Braveheart card on "Scottish banknotes" by the current Scottish Secretary, David Mundell, failed in 2009. It must be assumed he and his Scottish Conservative colleagues will join the SNP in supporting this latest attempt. The acquisition of a licence to print Scottish banknotes by a National Bank of Scotland is a logical step in the transition to an independent Scottish currency in the future.

James Robb,

Redclyffe Gardens, Helensburgh.