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New £50 note with Alan Turing: release date and who’s on it explained
THE new £50 banknote is coming into circulation and that means you could soon see a new face appearing on the polymer currency.
Here's we explain when the new note is released by the Bank of England and who's on it, as well as what happens to old paper £50 notes.
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The £50 has been described as the "currency of the corrupt elites" by those in finance and back in 2018, it was announced that the paper version would be scrapped in favour of a more durable and secure note.
The new "bullseye" in cockney rhyming slang (after the score in the centre of a dart board), joins other new bank notes made of polymer, including the £20, the £10, and the £5 bank notes.
What date will the new £50 be released?
On March 25, 2021, the Bank of England (BoE) first announced when the new £50 note will be released.
The newest polymer bank note will be launched into circulation on June 23, 2021, in honour of code-breaker Alan Turing's birthday.
Plastic notes have been replacing paper versions since 2016 when the new £5 was rolled out.
They have been designed to be more secure.
The two windows and two-colour foil make it more difficult to counterfeit, while the polymer material is waterproof and harder to rip, making them last longer.
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The £50 note joins the Winston Churchill £5 note, Jane Austen £10 note and JMW Turner £20 note.
There are currently 300 million £50 notes in circulation, with a combined value of £16.5billion.
Who is on the new note and who is Alan Turing?
The new £50 note features World War II code-breaker Alan Turing.
Turing, who worked at GCHQ at Bletchley Park, is best known for cracking Enigma to decrypt Nazi messages - shortening the war by four years.
How did Alan Turing's work help during the Second World War?
ALAN Turing was asked to join the Government Codes and Cypher School, a code-breaking organisation which is now known as GCHQ.
The organisation moved to Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, which became the top secret home of Britain’s code breakers.
He was based in the famous Hut 8 and his most notable achievement at Bletchley was cracking the Germans' "Enigma" code.
The Enigma was a machine used by the German armed forces to send encrypted messages securely.
Together with fellow code-breaker Gordon Welchman, developed a machine called the Bombe which from late 1940 was decoding all messages sent by the Enigma machines.
Turing’s team also cracked complex German naval signals in 1941, contributing to Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.
His other work included developing a machine to encode and decode voice communications.
Benedict Cumberbatch played the troubled scientist in the 2014 film, The Imitation Game.
Despite his monumental help with the national effort in WWII, he was charged over homosexual activity in 1952.
He pleaded for chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones, which made him impotent. He was also barred from continuing his work with GCHQ.
Turing died from cyanide poisoning in an apparent suicide in 1954, and 59 years later the mathematician was granted a posthumous royal pardon in 2013.
The new note will feature a photo of him taken in 1951 by Elliott & Fry, alongside a table of a mathematical formula.
Underneath the picture of Mr Turing is a quote from him, saying: "This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be."
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BoE boss Andrew Bailey said: "There's something of the character of a nation in its money, and were right to consider and celebrate the people on out banknotes....
"By placing him [Turing] on our new polymer £50 banknote, we are celebrating his achievements, and the values he symbolises."
Director of GCHQ Jeremy Fleming said the note is a ";landmark moment" in history.
He said: "Turing was embraced for his brilliance and persecuted for being gay.
"His legacy is a reminder of the value of embracing all aspects of diversity, but also the work we still need to do to become truly inclusive."
Back in 2018, the BoE asked members of the public to offer their suggestions for scientists who should appear on the notes.
This led to a list of 989 eligible names of people who are real, dead and have contributed to science in the UK.
The Bank received 227,299 nominations for Turing during the six-week period.
The shortlist for the new note included famous physicist Stephen Hawking, computing pioneer Charles Babbage, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Can I still use the old paper £50 note and when does it expire?
Paper £50 notes can continue to be used even after the new version has been released into circulation.
The BoE hasn't set a date yet for when the paper ones will be withdrawn yet, but has promised to give at least six months notice.
There are currently 300 million £50 notes in circulation, with a combined value of £16.5billion.
Old paper £5 notes ceased to be legal tender from May 2017 and the paper £10 note was withdrawn in March 2018.
The old £5 featured Elizabeth Fry and the old tenner had the face of Charles Darwin on it.
Despite them being withdrawn, you won't lose any money if you find one of the old notes.
Many banks will still accept them as deposits from customers.
The Post Office may also accept withdrawn notes as a deposit into any bank account.
And you can always exchange withdrawn notes with the Bank of England directly, so you shouldn't ever lose money.
You can also continue using the old £20 note as this hasn't bee withdrawn yet.
Again, the BoE will give six months notice of its official use expiring and after that, you can still exchange it for the equivalent legal tender.
When the £50 does expire, you'll be able to exchange this too.
How can I order the new £50 note?
If you want to get your hands on the new £50 straight away, you can go to the Bank of England and get it on June 23, the day it's released.
The Bank of England is on Threadneedle street in the City of London and you'll have to go to its bank counter.
You can only get the note in exchange for cash, and card payment is not accepted.
But be prepared to wait. The bank expects queues of as much has two hours with many eager to get the crisp new note.
There's also social distancing in place and you'll have to wear a mask, unless exempt.
The BoE also says that it can't guarantee that you'll get a low serial number, sequential numbers or a pristine condition note if you go to them directly.
Collectors will be keen to get the first printed note, or a particular sequence in the hope that they could be worth more than face value.
You can also get the note from most high street banks on the release day too.
What's the new £50 note puzzle?
The Bank of England teased the release of the new plastic £50 note back in March with a cryptic binary code message posted on social media.
GCHQ then published a puzzle to celebrate Turing's appearance on the new £50 notes.
The clever boffins behind the fiendish quiz claim it could take SEVEN hours to crack and "might even have left Mr Turing scratching his head".
You can see the code here and try and crack it.
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Who is on the old paper £50 note?
The current £50 note was issued on November 2, 2011.
It features Matthew Boulton and James Watt.
The English manufacturer and Scottish engineer joined forces to produce marine and stationary steam engines.
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