Go to the bank or pay in cash somewhere tomorrow and you may well receive a first of its kind here in the UK. That’s because the brand new polymer £5 note launches tomorrow.
The old paper £5 is being replaced by this new plastic note, with the cut-off date for shops accepting your old fivers being May next year, so you have a bit of time yet.
The new note is made of a polymer, making it harder to forge or accidentally destroy – how many of us have lost money by leaving loose notes in pockets and giving them a spin in a washing machine?
440 Million
The Bank of England have printed 440 million of the new notes. Or, to put it another way, £2.2 billion worth of fivers.
The new £5 note will feature a picture of Winston Churchill, replacing Elizabeth Fry and it will be 15% smaller than the current one.
This is the first of the Bank of England’s new series of polymer notes, with the £10 and £20 notes to be replaced with polymer designs over the coming years.
The new polymer £10 note featuring Jane Austen will enter circulation in summer 2017 and the new polymer £20 note featuring JMW Turner will enter circulation by 2020.
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