New £10 Notes in Circulation

New Polymer £10 Notes

Just over one billion of the new £10 notes have been printed ready for circulation. The note features Jane Austen and is similar to the previous £5 that came out last year.  In 2020, a new £20 note featuring JMW Turner will start circulation too.

In August, it was confirmed the formula for the polymer notes would not change. This was after the protests about the use of trace amounts of animal derivative.

The new £10 note features Jane Austin with the Queen on the back and contains specific security features. The new note is meant to last around five years.

Additionally, the security  features of the new note includes a see-through window featuring the Queen’s portrait, Winchester Cathedral shown in gold foil on the front and silver on the back, a quill at the side of the window, which changes from purple to orange, and a hologram that contains the word ‘Ten’ and changes to ‘Pounds’ when the note is tilted.

Another feature is it’s also the first UK bank note to support blind and partially sighted users. This is achieved using a series of raised dots in the top left-hand corner to make it easier to identify the note’s denomination.

Paper £10 notes featuring Charles Darwin will be gradually withdrawn from circulation as they are banked by retailers and businesses. They can continue to be spent as usual until legal tender status is withdrawn in spring 2018, with the exact withdrawal date announced at least three months in advance.

There are currently 3.7bn Bank of England banknotes in circulation, of which 801m are £10s.