The Bank of England has announced that banknotes featuring a new portrait of King Charles will soon enter circulation. King Charles’s portrait will feature on new banknotes from June 5, the Bank of England has announced. They said that old notes featuring the late Queen Elizabeth II will remain legal tender and will co-circulate alongside the new banknotes. The Bank said the monarch’s portrait will appear on existing designs of all four banknotes (£5, £10, £20 and £50), with no other changes.
An announcement read: “The new banknotes will only be printed to replace those that are worn, and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes.” BoE added the public will see the new King Charles notes very gradually as its approach is in line with guidance from the Royal Household “to minimise the environmental and financial impact of this change”. The public will also be able to exchange a limited value of current or old series notes for new King Charles notes, through the BoE. The new banknotes will feature King Charles on one side, but the reverse side of the notes will remain unchanged.
On £10 notes, author Jane Austen will still appear, artist JMW Turner will feature on £20 notes and computer scientist Alan Turning will continue to be on £50 banknotes. A series of charity auctions for new “low-serial numbered” notes will also be held over the summer at Spink & Son. King Charles’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth, was the first British monarch to be featured on a banknote. Back in 1969, the BoE issues a new £1 banknote which was the first to feature Elizabeth.
