The head of the bank, Andrew Bailey, has announced that the appearance of the new banknotes has been coordinated with Buckingham Palace and has been personally approved by the monarch, whose official coronation is scheduled for May 6 next year, reports Reuters. The image on the banknotes was borrowed from an official photograph of the royal house taken in 2013.
Charles III’s surname will appear on modern polymer £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes. In 2016 paper money, once so common, was replaced by these notes, which have a much longer life. Bailey recalled that images of British sovereigns have been seen on coins since ancient times, but they first appeared on banknotes only in 1960, during the reign of Elizabeth II. Also, interestingly, banknotes issued by banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which are also a legal means of payment throughout the UK, do not have a portrait of the deceased Queen.
“Charles III is only the second monarch whose surname will appear on Bank of England notes,” Bailey said. He stresses that the new banknotes will be produced gradually and only in such quantities as to replace banknotes withdrawn from circulation for usury. Therefore, both banknotes with the portrait of Elizabeth II and the new ones depicting Charles III are expected to be in circulation for quite some time. According to estimates by the Bank of England, there are currently around 4.5 billion banknotes of the relevant denomination in circulation.
Reuters remember that on December 8, 50 denarii coins with the image of Charles III were put into circulation. About 4.9 million of these coins have already been delivered to post offices and about the same number of coins will be distributed in the first half of next year.
