Not everybody is happy with Jane Austen’s ‘makeover’ on the new £10 note

2017 marks 200 years since the death of Jane Austen– one of the best-loved English novelists of all time. And to celebrate such an inspirational female figure, both The Royal Mint and the Bank of England have chosen to honour her on a brand new coin and bank note this year.

In fact, this is the first time ever that someone has featured on a circulation coin and banknote at the same time– other than the reigning monarch.

But, all is not well. In an era where airbrushing celebrity photos is par for the course it is perhaps surprising that there has been such uproar regarding Jane Austen’s portrait on the new £10 note.

A portrait of Jane Austen, considered a genuine likeness, compared to her portrait on the new £10 note.

However, many people are upset that she appears to have had the Photoshop treatment; altering her real image to one ‘better suited’ to this modern age. With some even going as far to say she has been made into a Disney princess. Although the difference is not drastic, it is clear that a few minor tweaks have been made.

It seems as though it is not a good idea to mess with the appearance of such a well loved English icon.

We’d certainly be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter, let us know by answering our poll.

 

The new £5 note has a major grammar blunder…But have you spotted it?

The Bank of England has been accused of “dumbing down” after choosing to remove punctuation from a quote by Sir Winston Churchill printed on the new polymer £5 notes.

The original concept image for the new polymer £5 notes correctly included double quotation marks around the former prime minister’s famous saying: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

The Bank of England’s original concept design for the new £5 note included double quotation marks around Winston Churchill’s words CREDIT: Bank of England.

However the final £5 note design that was released into circulation does not include the quotation marks or full stop.

The new polymer fiver does not include quotation marks or a full stop.

The new Polymer £5 notes were issued in September and there are now around 400 million in circulation. You can find out everything you need to know about the polymer fiver here.

According to the Bank of England, the demand for cash continues to grow and the new polymer banknotes will shape the usage of cash in the future.

Did you know the new polymer banknotes are:

2017 marks 200 years since the death of Jane Austen – one of the best-loved English novelists of all time. And to celebrate such an inspirational female figure, the Bank of England have chosen to honour her on a brand new banknote.

The brand new £10 polymer banknote is due to be issued in September 2017 and you can find out more about the design here!

Bank of England sticks with £5 note despite animal fat concerns

Last year it came to light that the new plastic fivers are actually made using tallow, a substance produced from animal fat.

The news sparked an online petition calling for the Bank of England to stop using tallow in the production of the notes, which has since attracted more than 130,000 signatures. You can read more about this in our previous blog.

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The new £5 notes were released into circulation in September and caused a collecting frenzy! The new plastic £10 notes are due to enter circulation in September.

However, yesterday the Bank of England confirmed “that it would be appropriate to keep the £5 polymer note in circulation and to issue the £10 polymer note as planned, in September.”

The Bank said it undertook a careful review of options, including destroying current notes in circulation, reprinting the notes without the tallow additive and delaying the planned introduction of polymer £10 notes but concluded that taking action would be too costly and could put the efficiency of the counterfeit measures at risk.

So do you think the Bank of England’s decision to stick with the plastic notes despite the animal fat concerns is a good or bad idea?

Let us know in our poll: