The new 10 note unveiled

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Bank of England

18 July 2017





Today, on the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death, Governor Mark Carney unveiled the design of the new £10 note featuring the world-renowned author. The note is printed on polymer and is the first Bank of England banknote with a tactile feature to help blind and partially sighted users.

As it is made of polymer, the new £10 note is cleaner, safer and stronger. It joins the Churchill £5 in the first family of polymer Bank of England banknotes and a new £20 note featuring J.M.W Turner will follow in 2020. The £10 note contains sophisticated security features which make it very difficult to counterfeit. It is expected to last at least 2.5 times longer than the current paper £10 notes – around 5 years in total – and stay in better condition during day to day use.

The new tactile feature on this note is a series of raised dots in the top left-hand corner and has been developed in conjunction with the RNIB. This is in addition to the elements already incorporated in Bank of England banknotes for vision impaired people; the tiered sizing, bold numerals, raised print and differing colour palettes.

The new £10 note will be issued on 14 September 2017 and the public will begin to see them in the following days and weeks as the notes leave cash centres around the country and enter general circulation. The public can continue to spend paper £10 notes as usual and these will be gradually withdrawn as they are banked by retailers and the public. Legal tender status of the paper £10 featuring Charles Darwin will be withdrawn in Spring 2018 with the exact date being announced at least three months in advance.

Read more: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/news/2017/047.aspx

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. It's gorgeous! Long may Jane Austin serve. n/t

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

[olddad56]

3. when are we going to put Trump's picture on our money? Or maybe Putin's?

at least on the $3 bills.

[Yavin4]

4. Sorry. I don't like shirtless dudes on my money. n/t

[RKP5637]

5. Already got them on my toilet paper. n/t

[OnlinePoker]

9. During your tricentennial.

I seem to recall them doing a special issue $2 bill for the bicentennial in 1976.

[Hortensis]

6. Love the design! But what would Jane have thought of polymer?

Thanks for posting this, Judi Lynn. There seems a huge dissonance between the very old fashioned graphic and the new material, but no doubt that's already passing.

Wondering what they feel like, I found this from The Telegraph back in 2013 on polymer note testing before any rollout:

"Now feel the money: there is a crispness to the new polymer banknotes, but they lack that distinctive tactility that allows you to run your fingers across the weft and warp of, say, a £20 note. With the new ones, your fingers simply glide across."

"Oh yes, I like them. They are so much more hygienic,” says Elizabeth Dillon, stroking something that looks very much like a £10 note. “It feels lovely and clean.” The 77-year-old is one of the very first members of the public to get her hands on the Bank of England’s prototype banknotes, which look nearly identical to the existing ones but are made of plastic.

Many passers‑by were surprised that the notes – launched with much fanfare this week – were not stiff. They have been called plastic, but this suggests something rigid. The material is technically polymer, a thin, transparent and flexible film made of polypropylene on to which layers of ink are printed.

The prototype notes have a distinctive, shine to them – a matt gloss similar to that which is used on many hardback book dustjackets. Some shoppers described them as “silky”, others as “not real”.

To my fingers, they do not feel cheap. But many are taken aback by the sensation of touching them. “Ooh, that’s really weird,” says Shannon Page, a young mother. “They feel like they’d just slip out of your pocket.”

There is a crispness to them, but they lack that distinctive tactility that allows you to run your fingers across the weft and warp of, say, a £20 note. With the new ones, your fingers simply glide across.

Brenda Kulesza, a retiree, is one of the very few people I meet who is strongly opposed to the plastic notes. “I just prefer the touch and feel of paper. I paint and draw and sew – I like natural materials. This new one has a synthetic feel. I don’t like it.”

The plastic notes – contrary to some alarmist reports – do fold into a wallet. But they do not fold completely flat. They “bounce” back into shape, which Mr Walsh says would help church wardens trying fish out donations folded into those tiny gift-aid envelopes."

[FakeNoose]

7. It's not really plastic, it's actually synthetic paper

We have the same material here in the US and it's very sturdy. Printers have been printing on it for years.

If you've ever seen or used a Tyvek envelope, it's pretty much the same material. It can't be ripped open (like a paper envelope), it doesn't tear easily and it stays clean and crisp even after a lot of handling.

[Hortensis]

8. Like Tyvek, huh? Thanks! In the nature of things,

it'd probably be too long before one of those Brit notes crossed my palm, and my hand feels a "need" to investigate before then. Happily Tyvek envelopes arrive fairly often, so I can look forward to fondling one soon.

[Igel]

11. "Polymer" here means "artificial polymer."

Cellulose is a polymer and is naturally occurring.

She would have liked it, I suspect. Probably would have quickly grown to like ball point pens of most varieties, as well.

[Hortensis]

12. That "liberality of ideas?" Lol. Definitely.

Ball-points for the drafts, quill for the copy to the publisher.

At first I thought cleanability might appeal, like with most now. Communicable disease before antibiotics and immunizations meant that everyone lived with death hovering close by in a way it's hard for us to imagine these days. But she lived before even the most advanced thinkers were connecting those dots.

[sandensea]

10. They've outdone themselves. Their most daring ten-spot though, had to be the Darwin.