Paper £20 and £50 Notes No Longer Legal Tender

Paper £20 and £50 notes are no longer legal tender.

There are approximately 163 million paper £50 banknotes and about 314 million £20 paper notes still in circulation. These are being replaced with the new polymer £20 notes featuring J.M.W. Turner, and polymer £50 notes featuring Alan Turing. The new polymer notes are now the only ones with legal tender status.

People with a UK bank account will still be able to deposit withdrawn notes into their account.

The new notes, which have been introduced over the last two years, complete the Bank of England’s first polymer series. The introduction of polymer banknotes allows for a new generation of security features which make them even harder to counterfeit. The notes are also resistant to dirt and moisture and so remain in better condition for longer. These notes also have tactile features that allow the blind and partially sighted to use them.

Retailers can download posters to display in store to remind customers about the withdrawal of paper £20 and £50 notes here.

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