News

Bank of England announces plans for new 50 pound note

October 30, 2018

The Bank of England recently confirmed plans to release the final note in its latest series — a 50 pound bank note to be be printed on polymer.

The bank has not selected a character selection, and said in a press release that it will seek nominations from the public.

Release of the note also remains to be determined, but it will follow some time after the launch of a 20 pound note to be introduced in 2020.

"I'm very excited to be starting the process of introducing a new 50 pound note," Sarah John, chief cashier for the Bank of England, said in the release. "At the bank, we are committed to providing the public with high quality notes they can use with confidence. Moving the 50 pound note onto polymer is an important next step to ensure that we can continue to do that."

According to the release, polymer notes are cleaner, safer and stronger than traditional bank notes. They are harder to counterfeit and increase the quality of notes in circulation, and because they last around 2.5 times longer than paper notes, they are also more environmentally friendly.