Paper £20 and £50 notes set to be withdrawn from circulation at the end of the month

The Bank of England will be withdrawing legal tender status of paper £20 and £50 banknotes at the end of the month.

After 30 September 2022, paper £20 and £50 banknotes will no longer be legal tender.

The Bank of England is encouraging anyone who still has these to use them or deposit them at their bank or a Post Office by the end of the month.

While the majority of paper £20 and £50 banknotes in circulation have been replaced with new polymer versions, in June the Bank of England said there was still over £6 billion worth of paper £20 and over £8 billion worth of paper £50 notes on circulation.

That’s more than 300 million individual £20 banknotes, and 160 million paper £50 banknotes.

The paper £20 features the economist Adam Smith, the paper £50 banknotes features the engineers Boulton and Watt.

Bank of England’s Chief Cashier Sarah John said “Changing our banknotes from paper to polymer over recent years has been an important development, because it makes them more difficult to counterfeit, and means they are more durable.”

The majority of paper banknotes have now been taken out of circulation, but a significant number remain in the economy, so we’re asking you to check if you have any at home.”