9 things to know about the new £20 note
1. A hologram image alters if you tilt the note from side to side, the words should change between ‘twenty’ and ‘pounds’.
2. Operators should also check the metallic image over the main window and the foil is blue and gold on the front and silver on the back. There should also be a second, smaller window in the bottom corner of the note.
3. Other security features include a portrait of the Queen printed on the window with ‘£20 Bank of England’ printed twice around the edge.
4. A silver foil patch will also contain a 3D image of the coronation crown, above the see-through window on the front of the note.
5. A round purple foil patch contains the letter ‘T’ on the back of the note, directly behind the silver crown on the front.
6. There should be raised print on the front such as ‘Bank of England’.
7. Under a good-quality UV light, the number ‘20’ should appear in bright red and green on the front of the note, against a duller background.
8. Old £20 notes will still be valid tender until the Bank of England withdraws them from circulation – the date of which hasn’t been announced yet but there will be a six-month notice period of the withdrawal date.
9. The Bank of England announced English Romantic artist JMW Turner would be the face on the new £20 note when it was unveiled on 10 October 2019.
The polymer £5 note was the first to change from paper, which was issued on 12 September 2016 and features Sir Winston Churchill. The new £10 note followed this in September 2017 and features Jane Austen.
