THERE is £7.2 billion in old bank notes which has not been cashed in nationwide, despite the fact that paper £20 and £50 notes stopped being legal tender from October 2022.
The £20 and £50 paper notes were phased out in order to make way for new polymer ones which are harder to counterfeit and last longer.
Plastic notes with several security features are now used instead of paper banknotes – and the old cash notes are not accepted in shops.
However, the Bank of England has said that the withdrawn bank notes can still be deposited or exchanged.
In addition, the Royal Mint has said there are 76 million old £1 coins that have not been returned.
The Bank of England said in total there were 395 million paper banknotes still in circulation, made up of 110 million £5 notes, 62 million £10 notes, 171 million £20 notes, and 52 million £50 notes.
Paper £5 notes were withdrawn in May 2017, the paper £10 notes in March 2018 and paper £20 and £50 notes on 30 September 2022.
If you have any old legal tender, such as the paper £5 or £10 notes, you can also exchange them or deposit them.
The former £5 featured Elizabeth Fry and the old tenner had the face of Charles Darwin on it.
Although the paper notes are no longer legal tender, a spokesperson commented that “all genuine Bank of England banknotes that have been withdrawn from circulation retain their face value. There is no expiry on the period in which we will exchange banknotes.”
The banknotes can be returned to some banks, and post offices will exchange up to £300 worth of cash.
Old notes can also be posted to the Bank of England in the City of London to be paid into a bank account by cheque.
They can be sent by post to: Dept Nex, Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AH.
You’ll need to fill out some paperwork though – full guidance is available on the Bank of England’s website.
If the amount is below £300 and the sender lives in the UK, the notes can also be swapped for the new style polymer notes.
You can also take old notes to the bank in person, but be warned that the counter is often very busy.
Although the use of cash fell during the pandemic, in 2023 it still accounted for 12 per cent of all payments, according to banking trade body UK Finance.
The new £20 note is slightly smaller than the paper edition and features British painter JMW Turner.
Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in April 1775. He is one of Britain’s most famous Romantic painters.
The public nominated the artist after ex-Bank of England governor Mark Carney asked for a deceased cultural figure to be selected.
If that isn’t enough information, here’s everything you need to know about the polymer £20 note.
Alan Turing’s £50 note, which began circulating in June 2021, is the most recent plastic note to enter circulation.
The new polymer note features a photo of him taken in 1951 by Elliott & Fry, alongside a table of a mathematical formula which is widely credited as being the foundation for computer science.
