King Charles IIIis appearing on U.K. banknotes for the first time ever.
The Bank of England released images of the new King onfour banknotesTuesday (£5, £10, £20 and £50), featuring a main portrait of Charles on their front side and a smaller cameo inside the currency’s see-through security window.
According to a Bank of England release, the notes are scheduled to enter circulation in mid-2024 and are otherwise unchanged from the designs used for the lateQueen Elizabeth, which means that Charles will share the banknotes with Sir Winston Churchill (£5), Jane Austen (£10), JMW Turner (£20) and Alan Turing (£50).
Charles is also just the second monarch — and the first king — to feature on a Bank of England note after his mother, who first appeared in 1960 (British and English monarchs have appeared on coins for over 1,000 years.)
Bank of England
“I am very proud that the Bank is releasing the design of our new banknotes which will carry a portrait of King Charles III,” Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said in a release Tuesday. “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.”
King Charles III on the £5 banknote.Bank of England
All polymer banknotes carrying a portrait ofQueen Elizabethremain legal tender, and both visitors and the U.K. public can continue to use them as normal, added the Bank of England release. The King’s portrait also does not feature on banknotes in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
banknotes.Bank of England
The notes follow thedistribution of the first coinsfeaturing the face of Charles in early December, to slowly replace those that include the face of the lateQueen Elizabeth.
On the other side of the coin is a tribute to the late monarch, a design that originally appeared on her 1953 Coronation Crown. It includes the four quarters of the Royal Arms depicted within a shield. In between each shield is an emblem of the U.K. nations: a rose, a thistle, a shamrock and a leek.
King Charles III on the £20 banknote.Bank of England
“The first coins bearing His Majesty King Charles III’s portrait are striking as we speak, and you can expect to see 50ps featuring theQueen ElizabethII Memorial design on the reverse side of the coins in your change before Christmas,” the Royal Mint captioned a video of the coins being produced.
“Today is a significant event because we’re changing that monarch for the first time in 70 years. Today, we’re striking the first coins of King Charles III,” Rebecca Morgan of the Royal Mint said in the video shared on social media.
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King Charles on a £50 banknote.Bank of England
The Royal Mint said there would be 9.6 million of the coins going into circulation in a nod toQueen Elizabeth, who died at the age of 96 on Sept. 8.
But while the Queen faced right, Charles faces the opposite direction on the money.
“He is in this instance looking to the left, his mother looked to the right. Every monarch will be looking in opposite directions to their predecessor,” designer Martin Jennings explained of a tradition dating back to the 1660s.
source: people.com
