Bank of England Unveils New Charles III Notes

The new look of banknotes featuring the image of King Charles has been unveiled by the Bank of England.

The portrait will be the only change to existing designs of £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes and will start to enter circulation from mid 2024. The new notes will feature the King’s portrait on the front and in the see-through security window.

Queen Elizabeth was the first and only monarch to consistently appear on circulating Bank of England banknotes, starting in 1960. Notes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks do not depict the monarch.

There are about 4.5 billion individual Bank of England notes worth about £80 billion in circulation at present.

The notes will continue to be produced on polymer, the contract for which is split between CCL Secure for GUARDIAN™ and De La Rue for SAFEGUARD®. De La Rue has worked with the Bank on updating the design, and will be printing the new notes.

The Bank of England said that, following guidance from the Royal Household, the new notes would only be printed to replace worn notes or to meet increased demand, in order to minimise the environmental and financial impact of the change.

In the meantime, new 50 pence coins – the first to bear the effigy of King Charles III – have already entered circulation via post offices across the country. An estimated 4.9 million of the new coins are being distributed – about half of the total number earmarked for circulation – to be given in change to customers.