Billions of coins and pound notes with Elizabeth II’s face will be replaced

Billions of banknotes and coins around the world bearing the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II are due to be replaced after her death.

For nearly 70 years, the Queen’s image appeared on UK coins, with different portraits of her profile as she aged. She was featured on the country’s banknotes for over 60 years, the first British monarch to do so. Her portrait also appears on the currency of several countries that were formerly under British rule.

Since 1953, the year after the Queen took the throne, coins in the United Kingdom bear five different versions of her portrait. It appeared on country banknotes from 1960 onwards.

But now, the Bank of England, which prints the country’s banknotes, and the Royal Mint, which manufactures its coins, face the considerable task of taking that coin out of circulation and replacing it with cash bearing the portrait of King Charles III. .

There are more than 4.7 million banknotes in circulation in the UK, worth a collective £82 billion ($95 billion), according to the central bank. There are also about 29 billion coins in circulation, the Royal Mint said.

New money is likely to be introduced gradually and coexist as legal tender with the old notes and coins for a period of time.

A similar phase took place in 2017, when the Royal Mint began issuing a new 12-sided 1 pound coin. The new coin circulated at the same time as the old round-shaped 1 pound for six months before the latter lost its legal tender status.

But it’s not just the money that will require a makeover. The UK faces a massive operation to change the royal insignia on thousands of newly issued mailboxes and passports.

No changes yet

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

The Bank of England said the “iconic portraits of the Queen were synonymous” with some of her most important work.

“The current banknotes bearing the image of Her Majesty the Queen will continue to be legal tender,” it said in a statement on Thursday. At one point on Friday (9), many people were trying to access the Royal Mint website, which had a virtual queue to enter.

The central bank said it will present its plans to replace the existing notes once the mourning period is over. The Royal Mint also said it would make an announcement in due course.

The Queen’s image is also emblazoned on some banknotes and coins across the Commonwealth – an association of 54 countries, nearly all of which were previously colonized by the United Kingdom.

In Canada, where the Queen remains the head of state, her image appears on plastic $20 bills.

“The current $20 polymer note is expected to circulate in the next few years. There is no legislative requirement to change the design within a prescribed period when the Monarch changes,” Amélie Ferron-Craig, a spokeswoman for the Bank of Canada, said in a statement to the Bank of Canada. CNN Business .

Canada’s finance minister is responsible for approving the design of the new notes, Ferron-Craig added, and issuance of these notes usually takes a few years.

In Australia, too, the Queen’s portrait appears on the $5 bill. The Reserve Bank of Australia said on Friday that there will be no “immediate change” to its notes.

He added that his $5 bills “would not be withdrawn” and would likely remain in circulation for years.