General info
Is your £50 note about to expire?
If you’re lucky enough to have a stash of £50 notes tucked away in your mattress, you may want to dig them out and check if they’ll still be worth anything in a few months.
The Bank of England has announced that the old-style £50 notes which have been around for nearly 20 years will be soon be removed from circulation, and can only be used up until 30th April this year.
The note in question features Sir John Houblon who was the Bank of England’s very first governor. It was first issued in April 1994 and it’s estimated there are still 63 million of them in circulation.
The decision comes following a review of the note’s ability to withstand fraud. From May onwards, only the £50 banknote featuring entrepreneur Matthew Boulton and engineer James Watt will hold legal tender status and any institution is within their rights to refuse the old-style notes.
The Boulton and Watt note was the first to include a green ‘motion thread’ which has five windows featuring the pound symbol and the number 50 which moves when the note is tilted from side to side. The two men appear on the new note partly because of the integral role they had in manufacturing coins which were more difficult to counterfeit.
Exchange before 30th April
In a video placed on YouTube, Victoria Cleland, head of notes division at the Bank, advises: “If you have any Houblon £50 notes, it’s best to spend, deposit or exchange them before 30 April.”
However, there’s no need to panic just yet; Barclays, Natwest, RBS, Ulster Bank and the Post Office have agreed to exchange any older-style £50 notes for customers and non-customers up to the value of £200 until 30th October.
FAQs
More details about the withdrawal have been included on a poster issued by the Bank of England should you have any queries or concerns.
Your Country Needs You – The secret behind the poster
New research has revealed Lord Kitchener was never used for the WWI recruitment campaign
Lord Kitchener has been revealed as the subject of the first design in a five year commemorative series which marks the centenary of the First World War. For nearly one hundred years his distinctive image with a finger pointing firmly at the reader has been credited as part of the patriotic call for enlistment following the declaration of war in 1914.
However in his new book Your Country Needs You, James Taylor has traced the image back to its true origins and discovered that it was never actually used as part of a recruitment campaign.
Mr Taylor, a former Victorian paintings specialist, studied records showing nearly 200 official recruitment posters used during the First World War, and Kitchener’s iconic image was a notable absentee.
Graphic artist Alfred Leete created the image using a portrait of Kitchener and adapted it to give him the distinctive pointing finger. It featured on the front cover of London Opinion magazine in 1914, but was never used for official recruitment purposes. The original artwork was then acquired by the Imperial War Museum in 1917 and was mistakenly catalogued as part of the poster collection, which contributed to confusion over its use.
The famous slogan Your Country Needs You was in fact adapted from the official call to arms which was Your King and Country Needs You.
As Mr Taylor comments; “There has been a mass, collective misrecollection. The image’s influence is now totally out of all kilter with the reality of its initial impact. It has taken on a new kind of life. So many historians and books have used it and kept repeating how influential it was, that people have come to accept it”
In truth, whether or not this iconic image was widely used for military recruitment is not as important as the resonance which it still has with the general public. This year we will see Lord Kitchener on one of the most striking £2 coins designs in recent times, and you can be sure you won’t want to spent it when you find one!
Coins with such historical significance are usually hoarded by eagle-eyed collectors, and now you can collect this £2 straight from your change with the FREE Change Checker 2014 Collecting Pack.
Click here to claim your FREE pack.
Royal Mint announce new coins for 2014…
The new UK coins for 2014 have been revealed, and are set to enter circulation this year. Here we take a closer look at the themes behind them, and why 2014 is another significant year for the coinage of the United Kingdom.
This new WWI £2 will enter circulation in 2014
£2 – The First World War
2014 will of course be the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, and the Royal Mint has committed to a five-year commemoration of the emotive wartime journey from outbreak to armistice. It starts with a £2 coin bearing sculptor John Bergdahl’s depiction of Lord Kitchener’s unmistakable call to arms. The image of the British Secretary of War and his finger pointing at the reader still evokes an enormous sense of British identity and pride, and the coin also features the immortal words YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU.
Trinity House celebrates its 500th anniversary in 2014
£2 – Trinity House
Since being granted a Royal Charter in 1514 by Henry VIII, Trinity House has safeguarded the coastal waters of Britain for over 500 years. Maritime safety became crucial in the 16th Century as Britain began flexing its naval strength overseas. And today, with 95% of the UK’s imports still arriving by sea, the Trinity House pilot ships and lighthouses are still as important today as ever. The reverse design of this new £2 coin features a striking depiction of a lighthouse lens – an enduring symbol of the the safety which Trinity House still provides at sea.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow
50p – Commonwealth Games
In 1986 the Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, and the £2 of that year became the first coin in British history to commemorate a sporting event. Now, as Scotland gears up for the Games again in 2014, a new 50p to mark the occasion has been announced. The 20th Commonwealth Games will see thousands of athletes competing in 17 sports across 11 days in Glasgow. In this new reverse design, two of the most iconic sports – athletics and cycling – have been combined with a section of the St Andrews cross.
£1 – Floral Emblems
2013 saw the start of a £1 coin series celebrating the floral emblems of the British Isles designed by Timothy Noad. Completing the series in 2014 is the flax plant and shamrock to represent Northern Ireland, whilst the thistle and bluebell are portrayed on the Scottish version.
You can now collect all five designs straight from your change with the FREE Change Checker 2014 Coin Collecting Pack.
