From the BBC:
“£20 note: New design for
Britain's most-forged banknote”
The new design of Britain's most
common, and most forged, banknote has been unveiled by the Bank of England. Security
features on the next £20 note, featuring artist JMW Turner, will include two
see-through windows on the note and a metallic hologram. In the first half this
year, 88% of detected banknote forgeries were £20 notes, the Bank's statistics
show. The new design, which the Bank describes as its most secure, enters circulation
on 20 February next year.
Why is the £20 note important?
The most commonly circulating
banknote in Britain is the £20 note, with two billion of them in the system. That
is double the number of £10 notes in circulation, and far greater than the number
of £5 notes (396 million) and £50 notes (344 million). The popularity of the
note is part of the reason for it also being the most likely to be forged. The
Bank discovered 228,000 counterfeit banknotes in the first half of the year, of
which 201,000 were £20 notes. It has easily been the most commonly forged Bank
of England banknote in each of the past 10 years. The new £20 note will be the
first to feature the signature of Sarah John, the Bank's chief cashier, who
said: "The new £20 is an important part of our commitment to providing
banknotes that people can use with confidence. "Our polymer notes are much harder to
counterfeit and, with the £20 being our most common note, this marks a big step
forward in our fight against counterfeiting."
What will the new banknote look
like?
The banknote will feature
Turner's self-portrait, from 1799, currently on display in the Tate Britain,
and one of his most eminent paintings - The Fighting Temeraire - which can be
seen in the National Gallery. In 2005,
the painting - a tribute to the HMS Temeraire in Nelson's victory at the Battle
of Trafalgar in 1805 - was voted Britain's greatest painting in a poll
organised by the BBC. The quote on the banknote - "Light is therefore
colour" - comes from an 1818 lecture by Turner at the Royal Academy, where
he first exhibited at the age of 15. His signature is from his will in which he
bequeathed his work to the nation.
Others features include:
A large see-through window, based
on the shape of the fountains in London's Trafalgar Square, with a blue and
gold foil on the front depicting Margate lighthouse and the Turner Contemporary
gallery in the town A smaller see-through window in the bottom corner of the
note inspired by Tintern Abbey A metallic hologram which changes between the
words "Twenty" and "Pounds" when tilted The Queen's
portrait in the see-through window with "£20 Bank of England" printed
twice around the edge A silver foil patch with the 3D image of the coronation
crown A purple foil patch containing the letter T, based on the staircase at
the Tate Britain gallery
The security features are a crucial part of
the new note
Bank of England governor Mark
Carney said: "As the new Turner £20 testifies, money can be a work of art
in everyone's pocket." The note is replacing the current £20 note
featuring the economist Adam Smith. Of the five characters on banknotes by the
end of 2021, other than the Queen only Jane Austen - who has appeared on the
£10 note since 2017 - is a woman.
What is the note made of?
The new £20 note will be the
third Bank of England banknote to be made from polymer, following the new £5
note and new £10 note. The next version of the £50 note, to be launched by the
end of 2021, will also be polymer. The theory is that the plastic notes will be
more sturdy, such as surviving a spin in the washing machine, and be more
resistant to counterfeiting. Banks in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle
of Man have issued plastic banknotes in the past.
How was Turner chosen as the face
of the note?
The Bank received 29,701
nominations from the public after it announced it wanted to celebrate an artist
on the note. Some 590 eligible visual artists were considered for the honour -
about a fifth of whom are women. The list was considered by a Bank committee,
which included independent experts. It drew up a shortlist of five - Turner,
filmmaker Charlie Chaplin, sculptor Barbara Hepworth, painter William Hogarth,
and designer Josiah Wedgwood - from which the Bank's governor, Mr Carney, made
the final choice of the English Romantic artist Joseph Mallord William Turner,
or JMW Turner (1775 - 1851). He is known
as "the painter of light" and described by artist Tracey Emin as a
"wild maverick". The unveiling was held at the Turner Contemporary in
Margate, Kent. It was in the town that the London-born Turner, the son of a
barber and wig maker, lived and more than 100 of his works were inspired by the
East Kent coast.
Who are on other banknotes?
Sir Winston Churchill appears on
the Bank of England's polymer £5 note. Jane Austen was chosen to appear on the
plastic £10 note after a campaign to represent women other than the Queen on
English notes. Computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing will feature on the
new design of the Bank of England's £50 note, to enter circulation by the end
of 2021.
^ I have to admit I have never
heard of JMW Turner before now, but it does seem odd to have an artist known
for landscapes on the most used English
Pound Banknote. I can understand Churchill on the 5 Pound bill, Austin on the
10 Pound bill and even Turing on the 50 Pound bill, but not Turner (even after
reading-up on his life and work after seeing this article.) Maybe he means something
to the English people that I just don’t get – hopefully if he is on their new
20 Pound bill. ^
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49987329
