New £10 note featuring Jane Austen unveiled by Bank of England governor Mark Carney at Winchester Cathedral
Bank of England governor Mark Carney has today unveiled the full design of the new £10 note featuring Jane Austen 200 years after the death of the famous author.
Members of the public will be able to get their hands on the notes for the first time on 14 September 2017, a year after the introduction of the new fiver. The old tenner, which features scientist Charles Darwin, will cease to be legal tender in the spring of 2018.
The notes are printed on the same polymer as the new £5, which stirred controversy from vegan groups who objected to the use of trace amounts of tallow in the plastic.
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After an ongoing public consultation period the Bank may decide to replace the tallow with palm oil in new printings as well as in the new £20 note featuring English painter JMW Turner, which will be released in 2020.
The new tenner has already faced controversy of a different kind: attentive readers were quick to point out the quotation on the note from Austen’s work was uttered by one of her less sincere characters, Miss Bingley, in Pride and Prejudice.
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”
Meanwhile other critics have objected to the choice of portrait for the author.
Nevertheless, at a ceremony to reveal the note at Winchester Cathedral, where Austen is buried, Carney hailed the “universal appeal” of Austen’s novels.
He added the bank notes “serve as repositories of the country’s collective memory, promoting awareness of the United Kingdom’s glorious history and highlighting the contributions of its greatest citizens”.
While the Bank is keen to celebrate its history, Carney also stressed the new tenner will be “safer, stronger and cleaner” than the old paper notes. Security features include a see-through window with the Queen’s portrait, multiple holograms and foil patches, and lettering only visible under microscope.
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The note will also include a new tactile feature on the £10 to help the visually impaired, which is not included on the new fiver.
Victoria Cleland, the Bank’s chief cashier, said: “The new £10 note marks the next exciting step in our introduction of cleaner, safer, stronger polymer banknotes, and I am grateful to the cash industry for their work towards a smooth transition.”
Those need-to-know security features in full
A see-through window featuring the Queen’s portrait.
Winchester Cathedral shown in gold foil on the front of the note and silver on the back.
A quill at the side of the window which changes from purple to orange.
A hologram which contains the word ‘Ten’ and changes to ‘Pounds’ when the note is tilted.
A hologram of the coronation crown which appears 3D and multi-coloured when the note is tilted.
A book-shaped copper foil patch which contains the letter JA.
Micro-lettering beneath the Queen’s portrait with tiny letters and numbers that are visible under a microscope.The words ‘Bank of England’ printed in intaglio (raised ink) along the top of the note.