The Bank of England’s new plastic £20 note enters circulation next month (February 2020).
It is printed on polymer, features the artist JMW Turner on the reverse, retains the distinctive £20 purple colour and is the bank’s most secure note yet.
Sophisticated security features make it difficult to counterfeit but simple and quick to check:
- See through windows – Look at the metallic image over the main window. Margate Lighthouse appears in gold foil with the Turner Contemporary gallery in blue and the foils are silver on the back. There is another small see-through window in the bottom corner of the note.
- Hologram image – The metallic patch under the main window contains the word ‘Twenty’. This changes to ‘Pounds’ when the note is tilted from side to side.
Paper £20 notes, featuring Adam Smith, remain legal tender and should be accepted as usual. These notes will be gradually withdrawn as they are banked. Notice will be given six months ahead of legal tender status being withdrawn.
The new £20 note is the first to feature the signature of Sarah John, the Bank’s Chief Cashier.
She said: “The new £20 is an important part of our commitment to providing banknotes that people can use with confidence. Our polymer notes are much harder to counterfeit and, with the £20 being our most common note, this marks a big step forward in our fight against counterfeiting.”
