Just as Nigeria is introducing new, redesigned Naira notes, the Bank of England, which is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based, last Tuesday 20th December unveiled new Pound Sterling notes.
However, the reasons for the change are different and the UK procedure is planned to take a much longer, friendlier transition.
While Nigeria redesigned its top notes of 1000, 500 and 200 Naira denominations in what many see as basically swaps in colour, and has started the exchange of old with new notes since 25th of last month, the change in the Sterling is necessitated by the need to have the photo of King Charles III on the notes in place of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II who died on the 8th of last September.
Tuesday’s unveiling saw the King’s image on all pound notes. It was basically like the same Naira unveiling done last November 15 by President Muhammadu Buhari preparatory to beginning exchanging them by the Nigerian public.
But unlike the Nigeria process, where the new notes are already in use, with a lot of hurried and sometimes faulty policies and decisions, the new British notes will not come into use until mid-2024.
The Bank of England explains: “We expect to issue banknotes featuring the King’s portrait by mid-2024. You will still be able to use all polymer banknotes that feature the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II”.
Queen Elizabeth II first appeared on Bank of England banknotes in 1960 when on 17th March of that year, the Bank issued its first banknote featuring the Queen. Up until that point, Britannia had been the only character to appear on the banknotes.
The new King’s portrait appears on all four of the polymer banknotes (£5, £10, £20 and £50). The rest of the design on the banknotes will remain the same. The King’s image appears on the front of the banknotes, as well as in the see-through security window.
Between now and mid-2024, cash payments will still be done using the polymer banknotes that feature the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Banknotes featuring Queen Elizabeth II and the King will be in circulation at the same time. The new banknotes will only be printed to replace those that are worn and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes. This means that current polymer banknotes featuring the portrait of late Queen Elizabeth II will continue to be legal tender and will only be removed from circulation once they become worn or damaged. They will co-circulate with those featuring King Charles III. The legal tender status of the paper £20 and £50 notes was withdrawn on 30th September 2022 so only the polymer is now legal tender.
The current series of banknotes features the following characters in the designs – the £5 has Winston Churchill, the £10 has Jane Austen, £20 features JMW Turner, while the £50 has Alan Turing.
There are over 4.7 billion Bank of England notes in circulation and they are together worth about £82 Billion.
De La Rue is the company that currently prints the pound notes, and its counterpart in Nigeria is the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting PLC.
The Bank of England was founded as a private bank in 1694 to act as banker to the government. Today it is the UK’s Central Bank and still one of the bankers for the Government. It is the world’s eighth-oldest bank.
Bank of England Governor
The Bank began as a private bank to act as a banker to the Government. It was primarily founded to fund the war effort against France. The King and Queen of the time, William and Mary, were two of the original stockholders. The original Royal Charter of 1694, granted by King William and Queen Mary, explained that the Bank was founded to ‘promote the public Good and Benefit of our People’. In essence, this is still used today in the Bank’s current mission statement: ‘Promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability’.
Throughout its history, the Bank has been seen ourselves as a public institution, acting in the national interest. Although it was privately owned for a long time, its activities were determined by the Government and legislation. When the Bank was nationalised in 1946, it meant that it was now owned by the Government rather than by private stockholders. This gave the Government the power to appoint the Bank’s governors and directors, and to issue directions to the Bank. However, to date, the Government’s power to issue directions has not been used and this gives it the independence to perform its duties.
The current Governor of the Bank of England is Andrew Bailey and he began his tenure on 16th March 2020. His eight-year term will end on 15th March 2028.
IMAGE CREDIT: Bank of England
Epa Ogie Eboigbe, veteran journalist, broadcaster and public affairs specialist writes on, and analyses current and historical issues with a ‘wise pen’.
