Skip to content

Banknotes and coins depicting Queen Elizabeth II to be withdrawn

Banknotes with the image of the Queen Elizabeth II are to be replaced with new ones. After the death of the Queen, Great Britain will face many changes, including national re-branding.

This included the exchange of banknotes and coins with the image of Elizabeth II. Postage stamps, passports and the words of the national anthem will also be changed.

Exchange of banknotes and coins with the image of Elizabeth II: Postage stamps, passports and the words of the national anthem will also be changed.

With the long reign of Queen Elizabeth II it makes it hard to imagine Great Britain without her. Many are used to seeing her face on banknotes, coins, postage stamps, passports, even on cereal boxes. Now, after the death of the monarch, billions of notes and coins around the world will be exchanged. This applies not only to Great Britain.

The Bank of England is currently withdrawing the two older £20 and £5 notes from circulation which is also money with the image of Smith and Boulton.

Only until September 30th this year can they can be exchanged. Next year past a time like this they will cease to be valid currency.

According to the BBC, 4.7 million banknotes with the image of Elizabeth II will also be withdrawn. When will it happen? The Bank of England announced this in a statement issued.

The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II first appeared on banknotes in 1960. From then on, her image appeared on all subsequent series. Now, after the Queen’s death, the Bank of England, which prints the national banknotes, and the Royal Mint, which produces the coins, face the serious task of taking this currency out of circulation and replacing it with money bearing a portrait of King Charles III.

“The current banknotes with the image of Her Majesty will continue to be legal tender. Another announcement regarding the existing Bank of England notes will be made after the period of mourning , the Bank of England said in a statement released on Thursday.

According to the UK central bank, there are currently over 4.7 million banknotes with the image of the queen in circulation. Their combined value is £ 82 billion ($95 billion). There are also around 29 billion coins with the image of Elizabeth in circulation, reported the Royal Mint.

The new money is likely to be introduced gradually and coexist as legal tender with old banknotes and coins for some time.

British media recall that a similar phase of coexistence between old and new pounds took place in 2017, when the Royal Mint started issuing the new £1 coin. The old coin was in circulation for 6 months in parallel with the new version before it lost its legal tender status.

The Royal Mint announced in a statement on its website that the coins bearing the image of the Queen “remain legal tender and circulate” and that their production will continue as usual during a “period of respectful mourning”.

In connection with the death of the queen, however, not only the money will need to be replaced. Britain was faced with a gigantic operation to change the royal insignia on thousands of mailboxes and newly issued passports.

The image of the queen is also found on some Commonwealth banknotes and coins – an association of 56 countries, most of which were once under British rule.

The monarch of Canada is the same person who is the monarch of Great Britain , which is why the image of Queen Elizabeth II is also on the Canadian banknotes. “The current $ 20 polymer banknote will remain in circulation for many years to come. There is no legal requirement to change the project within the time limit when the monarch changes, ”said Amélie Ferron-Craig, spokesman for the Bank of Canada, in a statement to CNN.

Also in Australia, a portrait of the queen is on the $5 banknote. The Reserve Bank of Australia said Friday that there will be no “immediate change” in its notes. He added that his $5 bills “will not be phased out” and will likely remain in circulation for years.

Stamps and mailboxes with the image of the queen

Since 1967, all stamps issued by Royal Mail have been embossed with a stamp showing the profile of Queen Elizabeth II.

Royal Mail will now stop producing Queen Elizabeth II stamps – although they can still be used on letters and parcels – and begin the process of creating new ones, the BBC reports.

Royal seal of approval

From tomato ketchup to packets of cereal to perfumes, chances are you’ve seen the Royal Emblem next to the words “By appointment to Her Majesty the Queen” on some foods or other items in your home. These are the products that have received the Royal Warrant, which means that the company that produces them regularly supplies royal households.

Today, around 800 companies are allowed to display the Royal Approval Mark on around 900 products. 

Passports with the image of the queen

All British passports are issued in the name of Her Majesty. Old passports will not require replacement, the new ones will feature the image of King Charles III.

Some police forces in England and Wales that still place the portrait of Elizabeth II at the center of their license plates will have to make changes. Attorneys and solicitors who have been appointed by the monarch as the Queen’s Counsel will now be known as the King’s Counsel with immediate effect.

British national anthem

According to the BBC, the words of the national anthem will also be changed. The phrase “God Save the Queen” will be changed to “God Save the King”. According to the BBC, the first official performance of the revised version of the anthem is to take place at the end of the ceremony of proclaiming Charles III king. 

Source: BBC