UK: King Charles III - his first banknotes

[<k>]

5 pounds.



10 pounds.

From the Telegraph (UK:

The Bank of England has released the first images of the new banknotes to feature a portrait of the King.

His Majesty's portrait will appear across all banknotes (£5, £10, £20 and £50) which are expected to enter circulation by mid-2024.

Governor Andrew Bailey said: "I am very proud that the Bank is releasing the design of our new banknotes which will carry a portrait of King Charles III.

"This is a significant moment, as The King is only the second monarch to feature on our banknotes. People will be able to use these new notes as they start to enter circulation in 2024."

[<k>]

20 pound note.

From the Guardian:

King Charles III bank note designs revealed by Bank of England

Notes featuring Queen Elizabeth II will also continue to remain legal tender, allowing the public to carry on using them as normal.

Threadneedle Street said plans had been made in line with guidance from the royal household to minimise the environmental and financial impact of the change by only printing new notes to replace worn bank notes, and to meet any overall increase in demand for the currency.

This will mean notes featuring Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III will "co-circulate", it said.

King Charles will become only the second monarch in British history to feature on a bank note. Although paper money has been produced by the Bank of England since the late 1600s, a likeness of the reigning monarch was first featured in 1960, when the £1 note showing Queen Elizabeth II was introduced for everyday use.

Usage of physical currency has steadily fallen in recent years amid the rise of card and contactless payments. However, more than 4.7bn Bank of England notes featuring the Queen remain in circulation, worth about £82bn.

Although the note designs revealed by the Bank will feature a new portrait of the monarch, the reverse side will remain unchanged. Security features, including holograms and plastic windows, will also remain unchanged.

[<k>]

And the 50 pound note.

[chrisild]

Just like the "old" QEII banknotes, these will feature two royal portraits as shown above. The large one, on the right, is a regular one. The smaller one (left) is part of the see-through security window. Would be interesting to know, by the way, whether any additional security features will be built into the new notes. If not, it should not really take until mid-2024 to get the first ones out ...

[Alan71]

I wonder how long ago this portrait was done.  He looks slightly younger somehow.  Nothing like the Queen's portrait though, which by 2022 was 32 years old.

[redlock]

Would be interesting to know, by the way, whether any additional security features will be built into the new notes. If not, it should not really take until mid-2024 to get the first ones out ...

It's quite likely that the BoE has a large stock of QEII banknotes in its vaults (sadly the BoE does not publish anymore how many banknotes are being produced per year).
As KCIII is very environmentally conscious the old notes need to be used first.

[<k>]

And our UK banknotes last longer since they started being made of plastic in 2016.

Paper banknotes used to last about 9 months or not much longer, depending on the denomination.

[chrisild]

It absolutely makes sense to first use (up) what is already there. But a year and a half until these actually get issued ... what would be wrong with getting at least one denomination out next year? The sample notes seem to be dated 2023 too.

[<k>]

It absolutely makes sense to first use (up) what is already there. what would be wrong with getting at least one denomination out next year?

Cognitive dissonance, Mr. Three-dots-in-at-least-one-sentence-in-every post. 

[Offa]

Only the third monarch to appear on British banknotes

[<k>]

Only the third monarch to appear on British banknotes

Third? So who was the first?

[chrisild]

Does Robert the Bruce count?

[<k>]

Could do. In fact, this is misleading. There are no specifically British banknotes.

I was thinking about the Bank of England notes.

[eurocoin]

Yesterday I visited a company in Venlo that is active in the manufacture of machines for the destruction of coins and banknotes. One of their directors was rather optimistic, amongst other things as he was expecting demand from one of their clients, the Bank of England, now that the Queen had died, and all banknotes "would have to be replaced".  I had some bad news for him..  It surprises how widespread the idea is that currency needs to be replaced if there is a new monarch.

[FosseWay]

Third? So who was the first?

George V appeared on Treasury notes in the 1920s.

Elizabeth II was the first to appear on BoE notes.