Households have six months left to spend their “paper” £20 and £50 notes in shops before they are withdrawn from circulation.
The Bank of England has “encouraged” anyone who has paper notes at home to “spend or deposit them at their bank or Post Office” before the September 30 deadline.
The notes have been replaced by newer polymer designs, which the Bank of England claims are more durable and harder to counterfeit.
The polymer £20 note launched in 2020 featuring artist JMW Turner, whilst the £50 note came into circulation last year featuring code-breaker Alan Turing.
It followed the successful introduction of a polymer £5 note in 2016 featuring Sir Winston Churchill and £10 note featuring Jane Austen in 2017.
When do old £20 and £50 notes stop being legal tender?
After September 30 the new polymer £20 and £50 will be the only notes considered legal tender. Sarah John, of the Bank of England, said the public should “deposit or spend” any old paper notes in their possession “whilst they can”.
The Bank of England estimates there are £7bn worth of paper £20 notes and more than £10bn worth of paper £50 notes still in the pockets and purses of the general public.
Can shops refuse old £20 and £50 notes?
Households will no longer be able to spend paper notes in shops, or use them to pay for services, after the September deadline.
However, anyone with a bank account in the UK will still be able to deposit paper notes into their accounts. Some Post Offices will accept them, although it is important to check if this applies to your local branch. The Bank of England will exchange all old notes for all time.
Why are JMW Turner and Alan Turing on the new notes?
Turner was an acclaimed British artist who became known as the “painter of light” because of his talent for depicting dramatic seascapes.
The £20 note features a large self-portrait of Turner, which was painted circa 1799, alongside a quotation, his signature and the artwork of The Fighting Temeraire, one of his most famous works.
The £50 note pays tribute to Turing, a mathematician pivotal to cracking the German codes enciphered with their Enigma machine during the Second World War. This allowed the allies to read German naval communications and helped shorten the war.
He also played a pivotal role in the development of early computers and set the foundations for work on artificial intelligence by considering the question of whether machines could think.
Turing’s portrait is based on a photo taken in 1951 by Elliott & Fry which is part of the Photographs Collection at the National Portrait Gallery.
How to tell your £50 note is genuine?
Due to its high value, the £50 note is a major target for criminals looking to produce counterfeit notes.
There are two key security features to help confirm the authenticity of your note: the hologram featured on the note changes between ‘Fifty’ and ‘Pounds’ when the note is tilted and by checking the see-through window on the note.
The metallic image over the main window has gold and green foil on the front and silver on the back. The image on the front foil squares changes between ’50’ and a ‘£’ symbol when the note is tilted.
Other security checks include a second, smaller window in the bottom corner of the note; a portrait of the Queen is printed on the window with a ‘£50 Bank of England’ printed twice around the edge; there is a silver foil patch containing a 3D image of the coronation crown is above the main see-through window on the front of the note.
Further ways of checking include making sure the metallic, red foil patch contains the letters ‘AT@ on the back of the note, as well as feeling for the raised print on the polymer.
