King Charles III banknotes to enter circulation in June
Melanie May | 22 February 2024 | News
The UK will start to see banknotes carrying the portrait of King Charles III from the 5 June, when they will be issued for the first time.
The King’s portrait will appear on existing designs of all four banknotes (£5, £10, £20 and £50), with no other changes made.
Polymer banknotes featuring the portrait of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will remain legal tender, and will circulate alongside the King Charles III notes. The new banknotes will only be printed to replace those that are worn, and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes.
This is in line with guidance from the Royal Household and is intended to minimise the environmental and financial impact of the change. It will also mean the new King Charles III notes will enter circulation more gradually.
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Members of the public will be able to exchange a limited value of current or old series notes for new King Charles III notes, through the Bank of England, for a short period from 5 June with further details on this provided nearer the time.
Charity auctions of low serial notes
A series of charity auctions of low-serial numbered notes will be held over the summer at Spink & Son. In addition to these auctions, members of the public will be able to enter a ballot to purchase a set of notes. The money raised will be donated to charity. More details on this will be made available on the Spink & Son website.
When the polymer £5 first came into circulation in 2016, it sparked the #FirstFiver campaign, which was started by John Thompson to encourage people to donate their first new polymer £5 note to charity. Research from CAF the same year found that the campaign may have raised £12.5mn for good causes. Could we see a resurgence of the campaign this time around?
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.