Posts Tagged ‘banknote’
Revealed: The face of the new £20 banknote
Exciting news emerged over the weekend on who would replace economist Adam Smith on the £20 note.
Adam Smith’s image has featured on the £20 banknote since 2007, but early last year the Bank of England announced plans to replace him.
The bank of England asked the British public to nominate “people of historical significance” from the world of visual arts, from a list of 590 eligible candidates. Some of the nominations included Alfred Hitchcock, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Richard Attenborough, Beatrix Potter and William Blake.
Of the 590 candidates, just 5 were shortlisted by a Bank committee and included – artist JMW Turner, designer Josiah Wedgwood, filmmaker Charlie Chaplin, sculptor Barbara Hepworth and painter William Hogarth.
The final decision was made by the Bank’s governor, Mark Carney and it has now been revealed that artist JMW Turner and his painting ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ will feature on the new £20 banknote.
Meet the new £20 note character: JMW Turner
Find out more: https://t.co/CsMLVfc9DJ#turner #jmwturner #20poundnote pic.twitter.com/5quxL5SnJz— Bank of England (@bankofengland) April 22, 2016
The design
The design features Turner’s self-portrait from 1788 along with one of his most famous paintings ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ which is a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire which played an important role during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
The quote ‘Light is therefore colour’ comes from a lecture by Turner at the Royal Academy in 1818 and his signature is taken from will when he donated all of his works to the nation.
Due to enter into circulation in 2020, the £20 note will be the third banknote made from Polymer, following on from the £5 note featuring Winston Churchill and the £10 note featuring Jane Austen. The £50 note will remain in circulation with the same design and there are currently no plans for them to be issued in polymer.
Sir Winston Churchill to replace Elizabeth Fry on the new £5 banknote
The Bank of England have confirmed that the new £5 note will be released into circulation in September this year and will feature Sir Winston Churchill, replacing Elizabeth Fry, currently on the £5 note.
The design
The design features the famous portrait of Churchill in 1941 known as the ‘Roaring Lion’ as well as his famous quote “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” which he made on the day he became Prime Minister.
The clock on the Parliament building in the background shows the time as 3 o’clock which is when Sir Winston Churchill made the address to the public.
Just above this is his Nobel Prize in Literature which he was awarded in 1953.
Each aspect of the new banknotes design appropriately captures Churchill and his contribution to the UK.
Plastic money – and it’s not your credit card
For the first time in its 300-year history, the Bank of England will issue polymer banknotes. Polymer is manufactured from a transparent plastic film and will be made from a cleaner and more durable material which can be used to incorporate new security features.
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. It has been revealed that a new £10 banknote will be issued in 2017 featuring Jane Austin while a £20 is due for release by 2020 but it is yet to be decided who will feature.
Whose face would you like to see on the £20 note?
You may not be familiar with the life and work of economist Adam Smith, but chances are you’ve seen his face more often than you realise. His image has featured on the £20 banknote since 2007, but earlier this year, the Bank of England have announced plans to replace him.
They have asked the British public to nominate “people of historical significance” from the world of visual arts, and over the past 2 months there have been just shy of 30,000 nominations and 592 eligible candidates from which to choose.
The category is a broad one, and the suggestions have been diverse, with painters, authors, architects, film-makers and even fashion designers in contention.
Living people, fictional characters and anyone “unduly divisive” are not permitted.
Some of the nominations (from left to right) include Alfred Hitchcock, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, William Hogarth, Richard Attenborough, Beatrix Potter and William Blake
Ultimately it will be the Bank’s Governor Mark Carney who makes the decision, and the winner will be announced in Spring 2016, with the new note being introduced in the next 3-5 years. Launching the nominations, he said:
“There are a wealth of individuals within the field of visual arts whose work shaped British thought, innovation, leadership, values and society and who continue to inspire people today”.
So who would you like to feature on the new £20 note?
We’ve narrowed the list down to 10 front runners, and you can have your say in our poll below…