The Future of Cash Is the New £10 Note
A counterfeiter’s nightmare, the bill featuring Jane Austen returns a famous woman to U.K. cash who isn’t the queen.
The front (top) and reverse side of the new U.K. £10 banknote. The new bills replace the image of naturalist Charles Darwin with that of early-19th century novelist Jane Austen.
Photographer: Jason Alden/BloombergThe Bank of England’s new 10-pound note enters circulation Thursday, and with it the most advanced features seen yet on U.K. bills.
The new tenners (as they are known) are the second denomination printed on polymer by the BOE and are expected to last at least 2.5 times longer than paper notes. The bills—which have no fewer than eight visible security features to deter counterfeiters—depict the early 19th-century author Jane Austen on the reverse, along with other images from her life. They also have features that accommodate the blind and partially sighted.