UK banknotes set to see big change with wildlife replacing historical figures

The Bank of England stated the change is intended to honour the country’s heritage by highlighting its wildlife.

Historical figures will be replaced by images of the UK’s wildlife on the next series of Bank of England banknotes, with the public given a chance to pick which elements of nature will feature.

Replacing these well-known figures will be images of the UK’s wildlife, with the public having input on which elements of nature will be featured. 

This marks a shift of more than 50 years of The Bank of England portraying historical people from Britain’s history on banknotes, including Jane Austen, Alan Turing and Sir Winston Churchill.

According to the central bank, this will also make it more difficult for the banknotes to be counterfeited, as it makes security features more distinguishable. 

This change comes after a consultation where the UK wildlife theme received the highest proportion of nominations, at 60% with Architecture and landmarks were a close second at 56%. This was also followed by notable historical figures (38%) arts, culture and sport (30%), innovation (23%) and noteworthy milestones (19%).

Over 44,000 responses come in from different sources such as online surveys, emails and designs submitted by schools and the public.

There are plans for a second consultation to take place this summer to gather views on which wildlife the public wants to be featured, which can include landscape, animals and plants.

This new change won’t come into effect for several years and will still contain a portrait of the monarch.

A big factor of this change will be the representation of all Home Nations- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

Victoria Cleland, chief cashier at the Bank of England, said: 

“The key driver for introducing a new banknote series is always to increase counterfeit resilience, but it also provides an opportunity to celebrate different aspects of the UK.

“Nature is a great choice from a banknote authentication perspective and means we can showcase the UK’s rich and varied wildlife on the next series of banknotes.

“I look forward to hearing about the public’s favourite wildlife during our forthcoming summer consultation.”

Find out more about the new banknotes here

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