New banknotes featuring the image of King Charles are being printed in their millions but will not enter circulation until the middle of next year.
The BBC was given exclusive access to the highly-secure site where notes are being produced for the Bank of England.
The King Charles’ portrait will be the only change to existing designs of £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes, and new notes will replace damaged or worn older ones.
However, machines such as self-service tills need to recognise the new image.
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‘That process requires a relatively long build-up, and is why the notes will only be issued in mid-2024 – many months after 50p pieces featuring the King Charles’ image were put in use, according to the Bank of England’s chief cashier.
Sarah John, whose role means her signature is on the banknotes, said: “There is a lot to do to ensure that machines used up and down the country can accept the banknotes.
“They all need to be adapted to recognise the new design, with software updates, and that takes months and months.
“Otherwise, we will be putting a banknote out there that people simply would not be able to use.”
The reverse side of current polymer Bank of England banknotes, which in ascending order feature Sir Winston Churchill, Jane Austen, JMW Turner and Alan Turing, will be unchanged.
The Queen Elizabeth notes that are already in circulation – some 4.7 billion of them, worth £82bn – can still be used in the shops, even after the new notes enter circulation. The King Charles notes will only replace them when they are no longer fit for use, or when there is any increased demand.
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The Royal household has given guidance encouraging such a move, rather than a wholesale switch, in order to minimise the environmental and financial impact of the change.
Even so, on the day of the BBC’s visit to the production site – a complex surrounded by barbed wire with tight security and the external look of a prison – about six million new notes were being printed in 24 hours.
These are packaged up in a “sausage” of 5,000 notes, each one of which would pay off many a mortgage, but will instead be used for daily transactions throughout the UK economy. However, the buying power of specific banknotes has been diluted by rising prices.
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