Bank of England £50 note

The Bank of England £50 note is a banknote of the pound sterling. It is the highest denomination of banknote issued for public circulation by the Bank of England.[note 1] The current cotton note, first issued in 2011, bears the image of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and the images of engineer and scientist James Watt and industrialist and entrepreneur Matthew Boulton on the reverse.

Fifty pounds

(United Kingdom)
Value	£50
Width	156 mm
Height	85 mm
Security features	Motion thread, raised print, metallic thread, watermark, microlettering, UV feature, see-through registration device
Material used	Cotton
Years of printing	1725–1943; 1981–1994; 1994–2011; 2011–present (current design)
Obverse
Design	Queen Elizabeth II
Design date	2 November 2011
Reverse
Design	Matthew Boulton and James Watt
Design date	2 November 2011

The next £50 note, to be printed in polymer, will enter circulation in 2021. It will bear the image of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and the image of computer scientist and World War II codebreaker Alan Turing on the reverse.[1]

History

£50 notes were introduced by the Bank of England for the first time in 1725. The earliest notes were handwritten and were issued as needed to individuals. These notes were written on one side only and bore the name of the payee, the date, and the signature of the issuing cashier. With the exception of the Restriction Period between 1797 and 1821, when the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars caused a bullion shortage, these notes could be exchanged in full, or in part, for an equivalent amount of gold when presented at the bank. If redeemed in part, the banknote would be signed to indicate the amount that had been redeemed. From 1853 printed notes replaced handwritten notes, with the declaration "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of fifty pounds" replacing the name of the payee. This declaration remains on Bank of England banknotes to this day. A printed signature of one of three cashiers appeared on the printed notes, although this was replaced by the signature of the Chief Cashier from 1870 onwards.[2]

A £50 note, issued in 1934

The ability to redeem banknotes for gold ceased in 1931 when Britain stopped using the gold standard.[2] The £50 note ceased to be produced by the Bank of England in 1943 and did not reappear until it was reintroduced in 1981. These D series notes were predominantly olive green on both sides, with an image of Queen Elizabeth II on the front (as with all subsequent £50 notes) and an image of architect Christopher Wren on the back. As a security feature, this note had a metallic thread running through it, which was upgraded to a "windowed" thread from July 1988 onward. The thread is woven into the paper such that it forms a dashed line, yet appears as a single line when held up to the light. The series D note was gradually replaced by the series E, beginning in 1994. This reddish note replaced Christopher Wren with John Houblon, the first governor of the Bank of England, on the reverse. As an additional security feature, these notes had a foil patch on the front.[3] The E revision series did not have a £50 note.

The current £50 note was introduced in 2011. It features two portraits on the reverse: engineer and scientist James Watt and industrialist and entrepreneur Matthew Boulton, along with the Whitbread Engine and the Soho Manufactory, Birmingham.[4][5] The note has a number of security features in addition to the metallic thread, including motion thread, raised print, a watermark, microlettering, a see-through registration device, and a colourful pattern that only appears under ultraviolet light.[6] The current note is the first Bank of England banknote to feature two people on the reverse,[7] and the first Bank of England note to feature the motion thread security feature. This is an image in a broken green thread that moves as the note is viewed from different angles.

The new £50 note will be brought into circulation in 2021; It will be the last of the Bank of England's notes to switch from paper to polymer. The reverse of the note will feature a portrait of mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing.[1] Suggestions were sought by the Bank for eligible scientists prior to Turing's selection. Some 227,299 nominations covering 989 scientists were received, and the shortlist eventually consisted of (in individuals and pairs) Mary Anning, Paul Dirac, Rosalind Franklin, William Herschel and Caroline Herschel, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, Stephen Hawking, James Clerk Maxwell, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Ernest Rutherford, Frederick Sanger and Turing.[1]

Future

The Bank of England has issued new £5, £10 and £20 notes in polymer form.[8] In October 2018, the Bank of England announced that the £50 note would be retained, with a new Series G polymer note replacing the Series F note by the end of 2021. The Bank of England had a committee to consider nominations for the face of the new notes via public consultation.[9] On 15 July 2019 Alan Turing was announced as its new face.[10]

Peter Sands, an advisor to the British Government and former Chief Executive of Standard Chartered, has raised concern with the Bank of England over high denomination notes and their role in tax evasion. He claimed that scrapping the £50, and other high denomination notes such as the CHF 1000 and $100, would reduce financial crime.[11][12]

Designs

Note	First issued	Last issued	Ceased to be legal tender	Colour	Size	Design	Additional information
White	1725	1943	16 April 1945	Monochrome (printed on one side only)	211 × 133 mm (may vary)
Series D	20 March 1981	1994	20 September 1996	Predominantly olive green	169 × 95 mm	Front: Queen Elizabeth II; Back: Christopher Wren	First £50 note to carry a portrait of a monarch and used a 'windowed' security thread (July 1988 onwards)
Series E	20 April 1994	2011	30 April 2014	Predominantly red	156 × 85 mm	Front: Queen Elizabeth II; Back: John Houblon	Foil patch for additional security
Series F	2 November 2011			Predominantly red	156 × 85 mm	Front: Queen Elizabeth II; Back: Matthew Boulton and James Watt
Series G	2021 (forthcoming)			Predominantly red		Front: Queen Elizabeth II; Back: Alan Turing	Polymer note[1]

Information taken from Bank of England website.[2][3]

See also

• Bank of England note issues

Notes

1. The Bank of England issues plain notes in the values of £1 million and £100 million for internal use.

References

1. "New face of the Bank of England's £50 note is revealed". BBC News. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
2. "A brief history of banknotes". Bank of England. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
3. "Withdrawn banknotes reference guide". Bank of England. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
4. "Steam engine heroes grace new £50 banknote". Channel 4 News. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
5. "£50 Note – Design Features". Bank of England. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
6. "£50 Note – Security Features". Bank of England. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
7. "New £50 banknote in circulation". BBC News. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
8. Peachey, Kevin (2 September 2015). "Paper banknotes disappearing fast as £20 turns plastic". BBC News. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
9. "The £50 note is changing and here's why". BBC News. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
10. "Alan Turing to be the face of new £50 note". Bank of England. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
11. "Ban £50 notes to tackle crime, ex-bank chief says". BBC News. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
12. Wilkinson, Michael (8 February 2016). "Scrap £50 notes to stop plumbers and builders avoiding tax, urges government adviser". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 January 2017.

External links

• Bank of England website