King Charles III banknotes unveiled

News release

Today the Bank of England unveiled the design of the King Charles III banknotes. The portrait of The King will appear on existing designs of all four polymer banknotes (£5, £10, £20 and £50), with no other changes to the existing designs.

The King’s image will appear on the front of the banknotes, as well as in cameo in the see-through security window. 

The new notes are expected to enter circulation by mid-2024. All polymer banknotes carrying a portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II remain legal tender, and the public can continue to use these as normal. In line with guidance from the Royal Household, to minimise the environmental and financial impact of this change, new notes will only be printed to replace worn banknotes and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes. Notes featuring HM Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III will therefore co-circulate. 

Speaking ahead of the release, Governor Andrew Bailey said: “I am very proud that the Bank is releasing the design of our new banknotes which will carry a portrait of King Charles III. 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.”

Notes to editors 

1. Images of all Bank of England banknotes can be found on the Bank’s Flickr site.
2. The current series of banknotes (series G) features the following characters in the designs: £5 – Winston Churchill, £10 – Jane Austen, £20 JMW Turner, £50 – Alan Turing.
3. Although the note designs unveiled today will feature a new portrait of the monarch, the reverse side of each note remains unchanged. Therefore these notes can be checked using the same security features as existing HM Elizabeth II banknotes. More information on the specific designs and security features of these can be found at the following links: £5, £10, £20, £50.
4. Paper banknotes are no longer legal tender, and cannot be used as a means of payment. However any old series Bank of England notes can be presented for exchange either in person at the Bank’s premises in London, or sent by post (at the sender’s risk) to: Dept NEX, Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AH. For further details, please see the Exchanging old banknotes page. Some Post Office branches will also exchange paper banknotes. 
5. See images of current polymer notes and withdrawn paper banknotes.