The John Lewis vouchers don't have a "use by" date, fortunately - but the old £5 notes did. They now have to be taken to the bank to be exchanged for new plastic - or rather polymer - notes. The Bank of England's FAQs say:
As at end-June 2017, there were approximately 127.2 million paper £5 banknotes still in circulation, worth around £636 million. [In comparison, there were approximately 255.6 million polymer £5 banknotes in circulation, worth around £1.3bn.]For those holding these notes, the Bank of England will always exchange its old-series notes. Notes may be presented for payment either in person or sent by post (at the sender’s risk) to: Dept NEX, Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AH."
The coins in my little hoard include some chocolate coins from a long-ago Christmas stocking - they represent a huge old five pence, and a £1 coin. Those £1 coins, though, are going out of circulation on Sunday 15 October ... so use them up now, or you'll have to take them to the bank or post office, to exchange for the new 12-sided version, which is harder to counterfeit - apparently 1 in 30 of the old coins in circulation were fakes.
However...
Shops are likely to ignore the deadline, it was reported on 9 October: "Trade association says shortage of new coins means they will continue to accept existing version". They could take the coins, but shouldn't be handing them out.
There are still 500 million round £1coins in circulation, even though 1.2 billion have been handed in.
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