Banknotes with the portrait of King Charles II of England went into circulation across the country today.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, her son King Charles II ascended the throne on September 8, 2022. About 2 years after Charles became King, banknotes with his portrait printed on them entered circulation. It was noted that while the 5, 10, 20, 50 pounds with Charles’s photograph on it started to be used as of today, the existing Queen Elizabeth banknotes will continue to be used. While no changes were made in the design of the banknotes other than the portrait of the monarch, the design of the new banknotes was announced in December 2022. In a statement made by the Bank of England (BoE), “This approach has been prepared with the guidance of the Royal Household to minimize the environmental and fiscal impact of this change. This means that the whole public will start to see King Charles on banknotes.” Queen Elizabeth was the first monarch to appear on British banknotes, as opposed to coins bearing the images of kings and queens in the UK.
