The new polymer £10 note has entered circulation in England and Wales, following last year’s £5 note and the recent redesign of the £1 coin.
The note has been issued by the Bank of England (BoE) and depicts author Jane Austen on the back. It also includes ‘tactile’ features for the blind and partially-sighted – the first British banknote to do so.
New £10 notes will enter circulation in Scotland in the coming weeks.
Old £10 notes will be taken out of circulation in Spring 2018 and the BoE will announce a specific date closer to the time. Individuals are able to spend old notes up until this date so if you have lots of them, you should look at exchanging them in plenty of time.
Some new notes will be worth more than their face value as collectors strive to add them to their collections. The lower the serial number on the note, the more valuable the banknote. However, you won’t be able to get your hands on the first note printed, as it will be given to the Queen.
Commenting on the new £10 note, Mark Carney, Governor of the BoE, said: ‘The new £10 note contains sophisticated security features which make it very difficult to counterfeit. It is expected to last at least 2.5 times longer than the current paper £10 notes – around five years – and stay in better condition during day-to-day use.’
The BoE also plans to introduce a new polymer £20 note in 2020. Currently, there are no plans in place to replace the paper £50 note.
Cash may well be slowly reducing in usage but for many small businesses currency changes are both a good and a bad thing. Good because they protect us all from counterfeiting and new notes are more durable; bad because they may require machinery to change and the resultant costs to the business.
For advice on the most efficient ways of handling cash please give us a call.
