Nearly three weeks after Queen Elizabeth II¡¯s demise in the UK brought up the question of the fate of the banknotes featuring her face for decades, the Bank of England has finally issued a clarification.
Banknotes featuring a portrait of King Charles III are expected to enter circulation by the middle of 2024, the Bank of England said today.
The central bank will reveal the image of the new monarch to be used on the updated banknotes by the end of the year, it said in a statement. No additional changes to the ?5, ?10, ?20 and ?50 notes will be made, as per a Bloomberg report.
Queen Elizabeth II, who died on September 8, 2022, at the age of 96, after a 70-year reign, has featured on UK notes since 1960.??
The Bank of England said, ¡°In line with guidance from the Royal Household to minimise the environmental and financial impact of the change of monarch, existing stocks of notes featuring Queen Elizabeth II will continue to be issued into circulation. New notes will only be printed to replace worn banknotes and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes.¡±?
It added that current banknotes featuring the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II will continue to be legal tender and will only be removed from circulation once they become worn or damaged. They will co-circulate with those featuring King Charles III.?
This announcement comes just a few days before the UK¡¯s last remaining paper notes cease to be legal tender on September 30, 2022. The Bank Of England had said last week there were ?11 billion of those left in circulation.
As per the report, the current series of new polymers also features portraits of Winston Churchill, Jane Austen, JMW Turner, and Alan Turing.
The first Bank of England note to feature the Queen¡¯s portrait was the ?1 note issued in 1960. It was followed by a ten-shilling note in 1961. Both notes use the same portrait by banknote designer Robert Austin. Between 1960-1990, the banknotes and portrait went through some changes numerous times. Then in 1990,?designers produced a 3D, metal version of the portrait, called a die.?
And then, since the year 2016, banknotes in the UK have used the same portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that has appeared since 1990. But instead of a watermark, they feature a see-through window containing a smaller but clearly-defined version of the portrait.
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