Queen Elizabeth II has been the face of British currency and stamps for decades, but today signals a new era, with King Charles III now the face of new banknotes
Countless Royal fans have queued to get their hands on the very first King Charles banknotes, as today marks the start of a new era.
Queen Elizabeth II has been the face of British currency and stamps for decades now, amid her service as the country’s longest reigning monarch. But following her passing in 2022, the Bank of England began producing new banknotes of King Charles III – these have entered circulation today.
In keeping with the previous currency, His Majesty’s face is depicted on the £5, £10, £20 and £50 polymer notes. These will only be printed to replace those that are worn down, to reduce the costs and environmental impacts of this change.
Even still, their release has sparked a frenzy of excitement among monarchists, with many quick to queue up outside the Bank of England this morning in hopes of grabbing some first edition currency. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one fan wrote (@ianvisits): “That was actually silly good fun.
“Once the doors open, there’s the usual security checks and then straight into the bank counter where they’ll swap your old banknotes for equivalent new ones. The queue is quite short (at the moment) so if you fancy doing something a bit different, they will swap up to £300 of QEII banknotes for CRIII equivalents for the next five days.”
While, the X user enjoyed his experience, he implied that anyone hoping to sell them for a bit of cash on eBay may be a bit disappointed. The new notes available here weren’t of low serial numbers, but it appears that some may be auctioned at Spink & Son next month.
He added: “Just bring the notes and proof ID. And you get to see a small bit of the grand interior of the Bank of England as well.”
Based on Threadneedle Street, the Bank of England’s walk-in service will run from June 5 to June 11, and is open to UK and non-UK residents. However, if this doesn’t take your fancy, Royal fans can also receive new notes in the post using the bank’s exchange service running from June 5 to June 30.
To do this, you’ll need to fill in an application form before sending off the worn down notes. The exchanged currency can only be sent to a UK address.
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