London, UK: The Bank of England has announced that the first banknotes featuring the image of King Charles III would go into circulation by the middle of 2024.

The UK central bank stated that the king’s portrait would appear on existing designs of all four of its polymer banknotes currently in circulation including £5, £10, £20 and £50. The king’s image will appear on the front of the banknotes and in the see-through security window on the notes made from polymer plastic.

Notes bearing the image of Queen Elizabeth II will also continue to remain legal tender, allowing the public to carry on using them as normal. King Charles, 74, ascended to the throne Following the passing of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022.

The Royal Mint has previously revealed that the first coins featuring his portrait went into circulation earlier this month. The King will become only the second monarch in British history to feature on a banknote.

In recent years, as card and contactless payments have become more popular, the use of actual currency has significantly decreased. But there are still more than 4.7 billion Bank of England notes with the Queen on them in circulation, worth around $99 billion.

Although the note designs revealed by the Bank will feature a new portrait of the monarch, the reverse side will remain unchanged, with the author Jane Austen on the £10 notes, the artist JMW Turner on the £20 ones and the computer scientist Alan Turing on the £50 notes, as per the report.

Holograms and plastic windows, security features, will also not change. The issue of the note will mark one of the most significant changes to royal symbols since the Queen’s demise.

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