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# Pound sterling

**Contents:**

- [£5](#ps5)
  - [Obverse: Queen Elizabeth II (2016–2024)](#obverse-queen-elizabeth-ii-2016-2024)
  - [Obverse: King Charles III (2024–present)](#obverse-king-charles-iii-2024-present)
  - [Reverse: Winston Churchill](#reverse-winston-churchill)
- [£10](#ps10)
  - [Obverse: Queen Elizabeth II (2017–2024)](#obverse-queen-elizabeth-ii-2017-2024)
  - [Obverse: King Charles III (2024–present)](#obverse-king-charles-iii-2024-present)
  - [Reverse: Jane Austen](#reverse-jane-austen)
- [£20](#ps20)
  - [Obverse: Queen Elizabeth II (2020–2024)](#obverse-queen-elizabeth-ii-2020-2024)
  - [Obverse: King Charles III (2024–present)](#obverse-king-charles-iii-2024-present)
  - [Reverse: J.M.W. Turner](#reverse-j-m-w-turner)
- [£50](#ps50)
  - [Obverse: Queen Elizabeth II (2021–2024)](#obverse-queen-elizabeth-ii-2021-2024)
  - [Obverse: King Charles III (2024–present)](#obverse-king-charles-iii-2024-present)
  - [Reverse: Alan Turing](#reverse-alan-turing)

Pound sterling (£, GBP) is the official currency of the United Kingdom and the world's oldest currency still in continuous use, traceable to the silver pennies of King Offa of Mercia in the 760s.

The notes in a traveller's wallet in England and Wales come from the [Bank of England](page:4171). Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own commercial-bank issuers: three Scottish (Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale) and three Northern Irish (Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank, Ulster Bank), each with its own designs. The Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man) issue their own 1:1-pegged pounds. So do the Overseas Territories of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; the Falkland Islands; and Gibraltar, each with its own ISO code.

The current Bank of England issue is **Series G**, a polymer set rolled out between 2016 and 2021 and reissued with a King Charles III portrait in 2024 after the death of Elizabeth II. The four denominations are: £5 with Winston Churchill, £10 with Jane Austen, £20 with J.M.W. Turner, and £50 with Alan Turing. Each exists in two visibly-different versions (Elizabeth II and Charles III); both are legal tender and circulate together.

For the rollout dates, the polymer transition, the monarch change and the older Series F paper notes (withdrawn 2022 but still exchangeable at the Bank), see [Series G (polymer, 2016–present)](page:4590). The wider history of the polymer technology is at [polymer banknotes](page:4204).

## £5

### Obverse: Queen Elizabeth II (2016–2024)

The polymer £5 entered circulation on 13 September 2016, the first plastic banknote ever issued by the Bank of England. It is the smallest current Bank of England note, measuring 125 by 65 millimetres, around fifteen per cent smaller than the cotton-paper £5 it replaced.

![Obverse of the Bank of England £5, Series G, with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/d7ef22d9be11e716.jpg)

The obverse carries the standard Bank of England portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in three-quarter view, wearing the diamond diadem that George IV had commissioned for his coronation in 1820. The Bank has used the same engraved portrait on its notes since the £20 paper note of 2007.

A see-through plastic window on the right of the obverse shows the Queen's portrait again, smaller and outlined in silvery foil, as one of the polymer-era security features. The Bank announced when launching polymer that the new substrate would last about 2.5 times as long as cotton paper and would survive an accidental wash.

The Elizabeth II £5 was withdrawn from issue on 5 June 2024 when the Charles III version entered circulation, but it remains legal tender alongside it.

*Image: © Bank of England, [official specimen image](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/5-pound-note), reproduced under the Bank's terms for non-commercial illustration of banknotes.*

### Obverse: King Charles III (2024–present)

The Charles III £5 entered circulation on 5 June 2024, in the first wave of British banknotes to bear the new King's portrait alongside the £10, £20 and £50. All other elements of the design are unchanged from the Elizabeth II version.

![Obverse of the Bank of England £5, Series G, with the portrait of King Charles III](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/aff2e4187e9ea0b3.jpg)

The portrait shows the King facing forward without a crown, a deliberate departure from the convention used for Queen Elizabeth II, who was always shown wearing the George-IV diamond diadem. The Bank of England engraving was based on an official photograph released by Buckingham Palace and unveiled on 20 December 2022, eighteen months before the notes went into circulation.

Both Elizabeth and Charles versions of the £5 are legal tender. Older paper £5 notes have not been legal tender since 5 May 2017, although they can still be exchanged at the Bank of England without a time limit.

*Image: © Bank of England via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankofengland/52573857530/), approved for public use within the Bank's banknote-image terms.*

### Reverse: Winston Churchill

The reverse honours Sir Winston Churchill (1874–1965), Britain's Conservative wartime Prime Minister.

![Reverse of the Bank of England £5, Series G, with Winston Churchill](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/2e7e266942a2f6bc.jpg)

The portrait reproduces *The Roaring Lion*, the most famous photograph of Churchill, taken by the Armenian-Canadian portraitist Yousuf Karsh in the Speaker's Chamber at Ottawa on 30 December 1941, immediately after Churchill addressed the Canadian Parliament. Karsh, looking for a defiant expression, walked over and plucked the cigar from Churchill's mouth; the resulting glare made the picture. Karsh said afterwards: "He looked so belligerent he could have devoured me, but I had my picture."

To the left of the portrait, the note shows the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) at the Palace of Westminster, with the clock face set to the hour at which Churchill delivered his first speech to the House of Commons as Prime Minister, on Monday 13 May 1940. The famous opening line of that speech, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat", appears below the portrait in his own handwriting.

The background carries a faint impression of Churchill's Nobel Prize in Literature medal, awarded in 1953 "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values", chiefly his six-volume *The Second World War*.

Churchill replaced the prison reformer Elizabeth Fry on the £5 in 2016. Fry's removal meant that no woman other than the Queen would appear on a Bank of England note; a public campaign immediately followed, and the Bank's response was to announce Jane Austen for the next polymer denomination, the £10, in the same week.

*Image: © Bank of England, [official specimen image](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/5-pound-note), reproduced under the Bank's terms for non-commercial illustration of banknotes.*

## £10

### Obverse: Queen Elizabeth II (2017–2024)

The polymer £10 entered circulation on 14 September 2017, the second polymer banknote issued by the Bank of England. It measures 132 by 69 millimetres.

![Obverse of the Bank of England £10, Series G, with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/fc4977baf29e704c.jpg)

The obverse carries the same engraved portrait of Queen Elizabeth II used on all the Bank of England polymer notes, with the Queen in three-quarter view wearing the diamond diadem of George IV. A see-through plastic window on the right shows the portrait again in foil.

The note replaced the cotton-paper £10 featuring Charles Darwin, which had been in circulation since 2000. The Elizabeth II polymer £10 was withdrawn from issue on 5 June 2024 when the Charles III version launched, and it remains legal tender alongside it.

*Image: © Bank of England via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankofengland/35848095911/), approved for public use within the Bank's banknote-image terms.*

### Obverse: King Charles III (2024–present)

The Charles III £10 entered circulation on 5 June 2024, alongside the £5, £20 and £50. All other elements of the design are unchanged from the Elizabeth II version.

![Obverse of the Bank of England £10, Series G, with the portrait of King Charles III](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/1fca3f2542c29a25.jpg)

The portrait shows King Charles III facing forward without a crown, breaking with the convention used for Queen Elizabeth II, whose currency portrait always showed her wearing the George-IV diamond diadem. The engraving was based on an official photograph released by Buckingham Palace and unveiled by the Bank on 20 December 2022.

Both Elizabeth and Charles versions of the £10 are legal tender. The earlier cotton-paper £10 (featuring Charles Darwin) was withdrawn as legal tender on 1 March 2018.

*Image: © Bank of England via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankofengland/52573412241/), approved for public use within the Bank's banknote-image terms.*

### Reverse: Jane Austen

The reverse honours the novelist Jane Austen (1775–1817), author of *Pride and Prejudice*, *Sense and Sensibility*, *Emma*, *Mansfield Park*, *Northanger Abbey* and *Persuasion*.

![Reverse of the Bank of England £10, Series G, with Jane Austen](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/761096095bcca828.jpg)

The portrait is based on an 1870 engraving commissioned by Austen's nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh for his memoir of his aunt, which was itself adapted from a small watercolour by her sister Cassandra (around 1810), the only contemporary likeness drawn during Austen's lifetime. The Cassandra original shows Austen unsmiling, arms folded, eyes turned to the side; the Victorian engraving softened the features and added a slight smile.

When the polymer note was unveiled in 2017, Austen's biographer Paula Byrne called the portrait an "airbrushed" idealisation: "Jane Austen is the funniest writer to walk this planet, and she's been made to look dim-witted." The Bank stood by its choice on the grounds that the 1870 image was the most widely recognised portrait of Austen.

The note also shows Godmersham Park in Kent, the country estate of her rich brother Edward, which she frequently visited and which is said to have inspired several of her novels; her writing table from Chawton Cottage, where she wrote her published work in the last years of her life; and (in gold and silver foil) Winchester Cathedral, where she is buried.

The quote on the note comes from *Pride and Prejudice*: "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!" It is spoken by the vain and insincere Caroline Bingley, who has just thrown down her book in boredom and is trying to flatter Mr Darcy by pretending to share his tastes. The irony of the Bank's choice has not been missed by Austen scholars.

Austen replaced Charles Darwin on the £10 in 2017. She was selected after Caroline Criado-Perez's 2013 petition campaign, which gathered 35,000 signatures protesting the absence of women, other than the Queen, on Bank of England notes. The campaign came at a personal cost: Criado-Perez and the Labour MP Stella Creasy were subjected to a sustained torrent of rape and death threats on Twitter, for which two abusers were jailed.

*Image: © Bank of England via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankofengland/35848097251/), approved for public use within the Bank's banknote-image terms.*

## £20

### Obverse: Queen Elizabeth II (2020–2024)

The polymer £20 entered circulation on 20 February 2020, the third polymer banknote issued by the Bank of England. It measures 139 by 73 millimetres.

![Obverse of the Bank of England £20, Series G, with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/6d6efa34244ff663.jpg)

The obverse carries the standard Bank of England portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in three-quarter view wearing the George-IV diamond diadem, the same engraving used since the £20 paper note of 2007. A see-through window on the right shows a metallic version of the portrait.

The polymer £20 replaced the cotton-paper £20 featuring the economist Adam Smith, in circulation since 2007. The Elizabeth II version was withdrawn from issue on 5 June 2024 when the Charles III version launched, and it remains legal tender alongside it.

*Image: © Bank of England via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankofengland/48874011048/), approved for public use within the Bank's banknote-image terms.*

### Obverse: King Charles III (2024–present)

The Charles III £20 entered circulation on 5 June 2024, alongside the £5, £10 and £50. All other elements of the design are unchanged from the Elizabeth II version.

![Obverse of the Bank of England £20, Series G, with the portrait of King Charles III](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/3fb9e2edf428d1a4.jpg)

The portrait shows King Charles III facing forward without a crown, an unusual choice for British currency; Queen Elizabeth II's currency portrait had shown her wearing the George-IV diamond diadem. The engraving was based on an official Buckingham Palace photograph and unveiled by the Bank on 20 December 2022.

Both Elizabeth and Charles versions of the £20 are legal tender. The earlier cotton-paper £20 (featuring Adam Smith) ceased to be legal tender on 30 September 2022.

*Image: © Bank of England via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankofengland/52573683419/), approved for public use within the Bank's banknote-image terms.*

### Reverse: J.M.W. Turner

The reverse honours the Romantic landscape painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), one of the most influential British artists of the nineteenth century.

![Reverse of the Bank of England £20, Series G, with J.M.W. Turner](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/9dc7c789e3ccc351.jpg)

The portrait is Turner's own self-portrait of around 1799, painted when he was twenty-four and had just been elected an Associate of the Royal Academy; the original hangs at Tate Britain. The young Turner shown on the note is rather different from the rumpled and reclusive figure he became in later life.

To the right of the portrait is *The Fighting Temeraire* (1839), Turner's painting of the old 98-gun warship from the Battle of Trafalgar being tugged up the Thames to a Rotherhithe breaker's yard, ghostly white against a sunset. Turner refused to sell the picture during his lifetime, calling it "my Darling", and bequeathed it to the National Gallery, where it still hangs.

The quote on the note, *Light is therefore colour*, comes from Turner's lectures as Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy in 1818. His signature, copied from the same will, sits below the painting.

The will itself is one of the largest artistic bequests in British history: Turner left some thirty-seven thousand works (paintings, watercolours, sketches, plates and the contents of his studio) to the British nation. The Turner Bequest is the founding collection of the modern Tate Britain.

In his later years Turner spent long periods on the Kent coast at Margate, where he lodged with a widow named Mrs Booth and is said to have called the Margate sunsets "the loveliest in all Europe". The seafront gallery Turner Contemporary, designed by David Chipperfield and opened in 2011, stands on the site of her boarding house.

Turner replaced the economist Adam Smith on the £20 in 2020. He is the first British artist to appear on a Bank of England banknote.

*Image: © Bank of England via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankofengland/48874740572/), approved for public use within the Bank's banknote-image terms.*

## £50

### Obverse: Queen Elizabeth II (2021–2024)

The polymer £50 entered circulation on 23 June 2021, the fourth and final polymer denomination issued by the Bank of England. The launch date was chosen to mark Alan Turing's 109th birthday.

![Obverse of the Bank of England £50, Series G, with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/845540106527b288.jpg)

It measures 146 by 77 millimetres, making it the largest Bank of England note. The obverse carries the standard portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in three-quarter view wearing the George-IV diamond diadem. A see-through window on the right shows the portrait again, accompanied by a 3-D hologram of the Coronation Crown, a security feature unique to this denomination.

It replaced the cotton-paper £50 featuring Matthew Boulton and James Watt, which had been in circulation since 2011. The Elizabeth II £50 was withdrawn from issue on 5 June 2024 when the Charles III version launched, and it remains legal tender alongside it.

*Image: © Bank of England via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankofengland/51069593723/), approved for public use within the Bank's banknote-image terms.*

### Obverse: King Charles III (2024–present)

The Charles III £50 entered circulation on 5 June 2024, alongside the £5, £10 and £20. All other elements of the design (including the 3-D Coronation Crown hologram in the see-through window) are unchanged from the Elizabeth II version.

![Obverse of the Bank of England £50, Series G, with the portrait of King Charles III](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/6133e33bdfecbe01.jpg)

The portrait shows King Charles III facing forward without a crown, in contrast to Queen Elizabeth II's diadem-wearing currency portrait. The engraving was based on an official Buckingham Palace photograph and unveiled by the Bank on 20 December 2022.

Both Elizabeth and Charles versions of the £50 are legal tender. The earlier cotton-paper £50 (featuring Matthew Boulton and James Watt) ceased to be legal tender on 30 September 2022.

*Image: © Bank of England via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankofengland/52573411731/), approved for public use within the Bank's banknote-image terms.*

### Reverse: Alan Turing

The reverse honours the mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing (1912–1954), founder of theoretical computer science and central figure of British wartime codebreaking.

![Reverse of the Bank of England £50, Series G, with Alan Turing](https://wikilayer.org/s/images/4077/5cdf59f90fa085dc.jpg)

The portrait reproduces a 1951 photograph of Turing aged thirty-nine, taken by the Elliott & Fry studio shortly after his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

The reverse is unusually dense with references to Turing's work. A ticker tape strip prints his birth date (23 June 1912) in binary. A mathematical table reproduces a section of his 1936 paper *On Computable Numbers*, the paper that introduced the Universal Turing Machine and laid the theoretical foundations of computer science. Technical drawings of the Bombe (the electromechanical machine he specified at Bletchley Park to break the German naval Enigma cipher) and of the Automatic Computing Engine (his post-war design for the first stored-program computer) sit alongside the portrait. A red foil patch in the corner shows a sunflower head, an allusion to Turing's late work on morphogenesis, his mathematical theory of how patterns form in nature.

The quote on the note, "This is only a foretaste of what is to come and only the shadow of what is going to be", was Turing's reply to a journalist from *The Times* on 11 June 1949 when asked about the future of computing.

Turing died at his home in Wilmslow on 7 June 1954, two years after his prosecution for "gross indecency" under the 1885 Labouchere Amendment, the same statute that had jailed Oscar Wilde. He was offered the choice between prison and a course of synthetic-oestrogen treatment that amounted to chemical castration, and chose the latter. The inquest recorded suicide by cyanide; a part-eaten apple sat by his bedside. Gordon Brown apologised on behalf of the British government in 2009; Queen Elizabeth II issued him a royal pardon in 2013; the "Alan Turing law" of 2017 extended that pardon to the more than forty-nine thousand other men convicted under the historical homosexuality laws.

Turing was chosen by the Governor Mark Carney on 15 July 2019, after the Bank of England received 227,299 nominations covering 989 historical figures. The shortlist included Mary Anning, Paul Dirac, Rosalind Franklin, Stephen Hawking, William and Caroline Herschel, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ada Lovelace, James Clerk Maxwell, Srinivasa Ramanujan and Frederick Sanger.

*Image: © Bank of England via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankofengland/51001108075/), approved for public use within the Bank's banknote-image terms.*