Thank you for the clarification. I never really understood what legal tender status implied as there are plenty of businesses who have refused to take old notes or certain denominations for a long time. I don't see how this changes anything at all.
If I recall correctly, legal tender means that the Government approves the use of a certain medium of payment (coins or bills).
I read somewhere...I can't remember where, that the reason that rolls of coins are in set amounts (50 pennies to a roll for example) is because a merchant can refuse payment under the legal tender rules if someone tries to pay for a purchase with buckets of pennies.
Legal tender status can be removed, i.e. paper money and coins can be "demonetized" but in every case, the obsolete currency can be redeemed either at financial institutions or at the central bank of that country. The obsolete notes never become "worthless" as so many people continue to believe, but they are no longer accepted in everyday transactions.
The Bank of England regularly demonetizes its old banknote series but clearly states that all Bank of England notes remain redeemable at full face value at the offices of the Bank of England in perpetuity.
The whole legal tender debate is moot if a merchant and the customer agree to exchange obsolete coins and banknotes; heck, if someone walked into my store and offered to pay for his purchase with a crisp uncirculated bundle of $1 notes, I wouldn't turn him away!
