The BBC reports that new bills with a picture of King Charles III are now in circulation.
You might not see many of them in wallets and bags for a while, though. The Bank of England will slowly start to use these notes as replacements for broken ones or because demand is high.
The BBC says that King Charles III is only the second ruler to appear on Bank of England notes. The first was Queen Elizabeth II in 1960. Even though the new notes are out, shoppers can still use the old £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes that have the late Queen’s image on them. The backs of the new polymer notes, which have pictures of Alan Turing, Jane Austen, Sir Winston Churchill, and JMW Turner, have not changed. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, banknotes still have different pictures on them instead of the queen.
King Charles III’s picture has been slowly added to more and more things. Millions of 50p coins with the King’s face went into circulation in December 2022. New coin patterns, like a bee on the pound coin, came out by the end of 2023. The first King Charles stamps came out in March 2023 as part of a special set. They were followed by normal first- and second-class stamps that showed the King without his crown. “His Majesty” became the name on British papers in July 2023.
A portrait of the monarch taken at Windsor Castle was given to public places like town halls and courts in January 2024. The Tudor crown design that King Charles liked best was put on the gov.uk website and in government offices in February 2024.
Finally, in June 2024, the Bank of England put out £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes with a picture of the King on them. The picture was taken in 2013. Postboxes, on the other hand, only get changed when they are broken or need major repairs, so many of them still have symbols from Queen Victoria’s rule.
