The new face of the £20 banknote has been announced.

The Bank of England recently revealed the face of the new £20 note…

In 2007 a new-style £20 note was introduced, featuring one of the father’s of modern economics, Adam Smith. New security features were added, including a holographic strip, enhanced watermark and ultra-violet features.

However, almost 10 years later The Bank of England has announced an update to the note, with a new design scheduled for 2020.

For the first time ever, The Bank of England asked the British public to nominate people of ‘historical significance‘ from a list of 590 eligible candidates. The candidates, from the world of visual arts, included  Alfred Hitchcock, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Richard Attenborough, Beatrix Potter and William Blake to name just a few.

Once the nominations were in, an appointed committee, with input from public focus groups, produced a shortlist of five candidates – artist JMW Turner, designer Josiah Wedgwood, filmmaker Charlie Chaplin, sculptor Barbara Hepworth and painter William Hogarth.

The final decision was made by the Bank’s governor, Mark Carney, and it has now been revealed that a self-portrait of Joseph Mallord William Turner  will replace famous economist and philosopher Adam Smith on the new banknote.

Also featured alongside the self-portrait will be ‘The Fighting Temeraire‘ which was painted by Turner in 1839 and is currently on display in the National Gallery.

Turner’s selection represents the first time that the Bank of England has turned to the British public to assist in the selection process. However, it isn’t just the design that’s changing, the note itself will become the third banknote to be made from Polymer – which are more secure, cleaner, durable and environmentally friendly compared to the existing paper notes.

You won’t have to wait until 2020 to see your first polymer UK banknote though, with the new polymer £5 note, featuring Winston Churchill, due to enter circulation September 2016.


Own Britain’s most famous banknote – issued in fine silver.

white fiver - The new face of the £20 banknote has been announced.

British banknotes have undergone many changes since their initial introduction in 1697, from the printing techniques and watermarks to the introduction of colour in 1957.

We have a small stock of Britain’s most famous banknote – the ‘White Fiver’ available, which has been issued in Fine Silver.

You can add one to your collection today.

Click here to find out more.

3 Comments

  1. Rob Moriarty on January 21, 2020 at 9:23 am

    I would like one of these as I am getting married on that day and collect notes.

  2. Alexander Kelso on August 22, 2016 at 1:14 am

    I would like to obtain one of these as I am a collector who has purchased from you before and i would like to add this special piece to my collection Alexander

  3. keithpottturner on June 29, 2016 at 10:55 am

    The genius ‘Painter of Light’ JMW Turner is a brilliant choice, and as I informed the Bank of England, I have links to the artist and I also have an ancestor who is the son of a draftsman called Sir Percivall Pott, Queen Victoria’s surgeon who lived at the site of the Bank of England at Threadneedle Street. Our relative, Miss Constance Pott, the pioneering graphic designer and etcher produced a picture titled New Bank of England. There is much more family history in the book TURNER TREES – link to Facebook page can be found below:

    https://www.facebook.com/Turner-Trees-1580214022276505/

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