Just a few days left to use or swap paper £20 and £50
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There are just a few days left to either spend or swap old paper £20 and £50 notes.
After 30 September 2022, paper £20 and £50 banknotes will no longer be legal tender.
If you have any paper £20 or £50 notes, we encourage you to use them or deposit them with your bank or Post Office before 30 September 2022.
As paper notes are returned to the Bank of England, they are being replaced with the new polymer £20 notes featuring JMW Turner, and polymer £50 notes featuring Alan Turing.
After 30 September, only our polymer notes will have legal tender status.
Once the 30 September 2022 deadline has passed, you will no longer be able to use Bank of England paper notes in shops, or use them to pay businesses.
After this date, many UK banks will accept withdrawn notes as deposits from customers. Some Post Offices may also accept withdrawn notes as a deposit into any bank account you can access with them.
The Bank of England will always exchange any withdrawn notes, including paper notes we have withdrawn in the past.
Continue to check your banknotes
You may still receive paper notes from businesses or other people until 30 September 2022.
Focus on these key security features to help confirm that a £20 or £50 paper note is genuine:
£20 hologram image change
Tilt the note from side to side and check the images change between a ‘£’ symbol and the number ’20’.
£50 motion thread image change
Tilt the note up and down or side to side and check the images change between a ‘£’ symbol and the number ’50’.
Bright £20 or £50 in the watermark
Hold the note up to the light. Check there is a bright ‘£20’ or ‘£50’ at the top of the Queen’s portrait.
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 in circulation.
That’s more than 300 million individual £20 banknotes, and 160 million paper £50 banknotes.
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.”
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