King Charles Banknotes To Make Their Royal Debut in June

It’s almost time for Britain’s money to get a makeover fit for a King. This June, the Bank of England will launch the first King Charles banknotes featuring His Majesty’s portrait into circulation. The new polymer notes keeping the existing designs on the £5, £10, £20 and £50 denominations will start replacing older paper notes and worn copies still bearing Queen Elizabeth II’s image.

While coins bearing Charles’ profile entered tills late last year, banknotes are a much more complex ordeal to produce. According to the Bank of England, the new King Charles banknotes will only replace Elizabeth II ones when the older currency is no longer in good nick. That means the Queen’s notes can still be spent even after June. It’ll likely be a while before Charlie’s mug is staring at us from every cash register in the kingdom!

What Do We Need To Know About These New Royal Banknotes?

Aside from the obvious face change, the rest of the designs on the new King Charles banknotes will stay the same – so that means Winston Churchill will still be on the fiver and Jane Austen on the tenner. The Bank of England says machines like self-checkout tills needed time to get used to Charles’ mug before the new notes could be put into circulation. They also want to avoid trashing tons of usable Queen notes. So it’ll be a gradual changeover rather than a overnight cash purge.

Collectors should keep an eye out, as the Bank of England will be auctioning off low-serial numbered first editions of King Charles banknotes this summer. Regular folk can also swap a limited amount of old notes for new ones directly through the Bank for a short window after June 5th. So get ready for a more regal currency – the new King Charles banknotes are making their way to our wallets real soon!