The design of the Bank of England’s new £50 note, featuring the computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing, has been revealed.
The banknote will enter circulation on 23 June, which would have been the mathematician’s birthday.
It will be the last of the Bank’s collection to switch from paper to polymer. In keeping with Alan Turing’s work, the set is its most secure yet.
Old paper £50 notes will still be accepted in shops for some time.
The Bank also says that plastic banknotes are more durable and harder to forge.
Sarah John, the Bank’s chief cashier whose signature features on the note, said: “This new £50 note completes our set of polymer banknotes. These are much harder to counterfeit, and with its security features the new £50 is part of our most secure series of banknotes yet.”
Who uses the £50 notes?
The £50 note is the least likely to be in people’s wallets or purses.
There were 351 million £50 notes in circulation last year, out of a total of nearly four billion Bank of England notes.
The government has previously discussed whether it should be abolished.
The banknote was described by Peter Sands, former chief executive of Standard Chartered bank, as the “currency of corrupt elites, of crime of all sorts and of tax evasion”.