For his entire adult life, King Charles III saw the image of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II on English banknotes. Today the Bank of England announced new polymer notes bearing the new King’s likeness.
The Bank of England unveiled the design of the King Charles III banknotes, with the portrait of The King to appear on all existing denominations of polymer banknotes of £5, £10, £20, and £50, with no other changes to the existing designs, the Bank of England announced Wednesday.
The new notes are expected to enter circulation by mid-2024. All of the polymer banknotes bearing the portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II remaining legal tender, which the public can continue to use as normal. As of September, paper banknotes were no longer accepted as a means of payment, although they can be exchanged at the Bank of England.
Polymer banknotes were first issued in 2016, and the current notes use the same portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that first appeared in 1990. Instead of a watermark, they feature a see-through window containing a smaller, clearly-defined version of the portrait. They will remain in circulation and can be used normally.
Although HM Treasury authorized the use of the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on a new series of banknotes in 1956, it was not until 1960 they first appeared on the £1 note. King Charles, born in 1948, has seen the image of his mother on the notes for his adult entire life, underscoring the duration of her reign.
To minimize the environmental and financial impact of this change, new notes will only be printed to replace worn banknotes and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes, according to guidance from the royal household, meaning the notes featuring The Queen and King Charles III will be in circulation together.
Although the image of the monarch graces the front of the banknotes, the reverse celebrates other prominent Britons. The £5 note features former wartime Prime Minster Winston Churchill on the reverse, while author Jane Austen is on the £10 note. Painter JMW Turner on the £20 and £50 has computer pioneer Alan Turing.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said ahead of the release of the notes that 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.
Starting in 1957, with its 5th series of banknotes, Switzerland started featuring prominent Swiss citizens on its note. Poet Gottfried Keller appeared on the 10 franc note and General Guillaume Henri Dufour who served under Napoleon I is on the 20 franc version.
This tradition continued up through the eighth series of banknotes issued, featuring other prominent Swiss, including Le Corbusier and Alberto Giacometti.
That tradition came to an end with the issue of the ninth series of notes, which features instead of people features an action on the front of the note and a Swiss location and object on the reverse. The 10 franc note, for example, shows a pair of female hands conducting time with a baton, and a globe around the international date line.
On the reverse, it shows rail tracks connecting the world’s longest railway tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, part of the world’s most dense railway network reducing the time for traversing the Alps in Central Switzerland.
It would seem time is indeed money. Or at least on it.