Everything you need to know about the new-look £10 note
THEY may have caused their fair share of controversy but plastic notes are here to stay.
And with hundreds scrambling to get their hands on a special edition £5 earlier this year, we could see the same thing again sooner than expected.
As we are days away from the release of the new £10 note, here’s everything you need to know about its unusual design ....
What will it look like? Replacing the oldest Bank of England banknote design in circulation, the new note will be the first to feature a woman apart from the Queen.
The new £10 will feature a portrait of Jane Austen drawn by her nephew in 1980, marking 200 years since the death of one of our most famous authors.
Unveiled in July, the design will include Winchester Cathedral where Austen is buried along with the quote “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”.
The note is being launched on the 200th anniversary of Austen’s death in 1817 and there is also an image of Godmersham Park House, the estate owned by Jane Austen’s brother.
The note will also be 15% smaller than the paper equivalent but larger than the new £5.
Clusters of raised dots will help the blind or partially-sighted compare it to the £5 which will be the only note without them. Features to look out for: On the front of the note, below the see-through window, is a silver foil patch. When the note is tilted the word “Ten” changes to “Pounds” and a multi-coloured rainbow effect can be seen.
If you look at the front of the note under a good quality ultra-violet light, the number 10 appears in bright red and green whilst the background remains dull in contrast.
On the back of the note, there is a bookshaped copper foil patch which contains the letters JA. It is immediately behind the silver crown on the front.
When will it be released? While production on the new £10 began last August, they’re not quite ready to launch yet.
The new £10 will start to go into circulation on September 14, with 275 million notes already waiting to be released.
Also printing their new £10 in polymer, Scotland will be releasing its new note a week later on September 21.
Can I still use my old £10 notes? With 800 million £10 notes in circulation available at 70,000 cash points, the old version featuring Charles Darwin will still be accepted for a few months yet.
The old £10 will go out of circulation in spring 2018, with banks and businesses gradually removing old notes before that date. Anyone with old £10 notes can get them exchanged at the Bank of England. What is it made of? Just like the £5, the new £10 will be made of polymer.
Predicted to last two and a half times longer than its current equivalent, the plastic notes are also said to be more environmentally-friendly with an 8% lower carbon footprint. However, despite outbursts among vegetarians the new note will still contain traces of animal fat while the Bank of England looks into ways to make its notes tallowfree.
What’s this about dots on the note? On the front of the £10 polymer note (the side with raised print), there are two clusters of raised dots in the top left hand corner. This tactile feature helps blind and partially sighted people identify the value of the note.
Will there be other new notes? The new £20 note featuring English romanticist artist JMW Turner is due to be launched in 2020.
There are no plans in place to replace the £50 note, with an announcement expected “in due course”.