New £20 note is coming into circulation, with Adam Smith on the reverse.


www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/newtwenty/index.htm

It seems sad when we'll be celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth in less than 3 months. Elgar could be gone by the end of the year.

That's a shame - such a leading musical figure.

It's quite odd, really: Scotland has its own money with its own famous people on; indeed, it has three sets of notes produced by the Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank. But, the Bank of England have still decided to go for a Scot on their banknotes rather than an famous English or Welsh person, despite Scots having three times the chance of appearing on a banknote already .

At the risk of sounding monumentally ignorant, who is Adam Smith?

That's exactly what I was thinking!

a £20 note doesn't stay in my purse long enough for me to look at the portraits on it

Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneering political economist. One of the key figures of the intellectual movement known as the Scottish Enlightenment, he is known primarily as the author of two treatises: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter was one of the earliest attempts to systematically study the historical development of industry and commerce in Europe, as well as a sustained attack on the doctrines of mercantilism. Smith's work helped to create the modern academic discipline of economics and provided one of the best-known intellectual rationales for free trade, capitalism, and libertarianism.

I've never heard of him either! And I never look at bank notes! It is frustrating though that scots often stil have to change their money because fussy english taxi drivers refuse to accept scottish notes. And nearly everyone in England is fussy about the £1 note.

The timing of Elgar's removal from the £20 could've been better....

Perhaps the Bank of England could be persuaded to put the portrait of another leading English musical figure on the reverse of the £5 or the £10 when they come up for renewal....

who would you recommend?

How about Gustav Holst? Or Henry Purcell?

Holst would be good

Purcell yes - how can you say Holst from this century and not think of other GREAT English composers like Vaughan Williams. What justifies getting your name on the back of a bank note?

I go for Kathleen Ferrier. She was beautiful, sang beautifully (one of the few singers who can reduce me to tears) and she died early of breast cancer so she could also serve in the health 'awareness' department. But mainly because she was one of our most beautiful singers ever.

I mean an economist! Yuk! Sorry to all economist but they don't set your heart a flutter do they. Then again maybe printing an economist on money is more appropriate - doh!

I am not saying Vaughan Williams should be one - just giving his name as an example of another leading English composer of the time.

I used to think that being generally well known was a primary reason, but I confess I'd never heard of Adam Smith before he appeared on the new £20 note... - I suspect that's ignorance on my part though......

Yes, agree with Vaughan Williams too as a possibility.

It's not as bad as it used to be. Scottish notes used to be viewed with distaste in England anywhere more than about two miles off a major motorway. Occasionally shopkeepers would try to convince you that £1 (Scotland) was worth 90p of Southern Dumfries and Galloway money.

I had a £1 note refused on a cross channel ferry once. "I'm sorry, I can't accept this," said the cashier, who then offered me 10 francs as change from a £1 coin!! You can imagine my reply.

I did hear once that all Scottish banknotes have always been legal tender in England, but that as recently the 1980s (and perhaps still) only the English £5 note was legal tender in Scotland. Not that this prevented any of us from accepting them

To be fair to Scotland we are stuck with the Queen on all of our money and she was most certainly not born in Scotland. Besides which with a two in three chance that a Scot will be the next Prime Minister not to mention the incumbent it seems justified that the currency has someone of the same nationality on it.

No, but she is our Queen - that's Elizabeth the First, of course

Ive seen one of the new £20 notes and it looked strange at first but I'm sure we'll get used to it!

What's a £20 note?

Neither Boo nor I had heard of him either and we are all very intelligent people!

Resurrected this thread to say that the £50 note is to be replaced next year, and the two people chosen to appear on it are Matthew Boulton and James Watt.

Which means if a prominent musical figure is to feature on this new series of notes, it'll be on the £5 or £10.

We'd better get campaigning!

It's not likely I'll ever see one of those anyway

A pupil once paid me with a £50 note...

I do think a nice portrait of Sir Henry Wood, with a picture of the Albert Hall or Queens Hall (or both) would look rather good on either the £5 or £10 note...

My dad used to give me £50 when I was little

I've never seen a £50 note. Do they exist already or are they going to be new? I hope they aren't replacing the £5 notes becuase I much prefer getting a fiver in change rather than a pile of £1 coins.

The shops will hate them if they come in - they often have problems finding change for a £20 note let alone a £50 one.

They are going to be new-style £50 notes

Shops won't be that bothered, it's not like you can get £50 notes from the cash machine so very few people have them anyway (at least in my experience of shop work)

It's about time they change the £50 note - it's not been changed in years

So these £50 notes aren't replacing the £5 notes like the £1 coins did with the ha'pennies?

I'm not sure what you mean.... They're just £50 notes. They're changing the design of them

Well, when the £1 coins (a new highest value coin) were brought in they got rid of the halfpennies (which were the lowest value coin at the time).

What I was asking was whether them bringing in a £50 note (a new highest value note - unless they already exist ) meant they were getting rid of the £5 notes (the lowest value note we have now)?

They also got rid of £1 notes when the £20s were brought in.

I think this is all before my time £50 notes already exist

I think I must be showing my age.

When they got rid of the ha'pennies all the ha'penny sweets in the shop in the next village went up to a penny - which was a huge difference in the world of a young child with 10p pocket money.

I had a ha'penny once, but I think by that time they were't used any more. I only moved here in '92

The £50 note is just changing in design, yes, and I can't see that they'll circulate that widely until inflation dictates that they should...

I remember the decimal 1/2p Flossie! And I remember sweet prices going up to the whole penny too...

That was 1 of my 1st experiences of feeling utterly cheated as well.

The village shop did go through a very brief period of selling them at 2 for 1p, but very soon my buying power had been halved. I do also remember using this as a basis for negotiating a pocket money increase (asking tor 20p up from 10p) from my Dad. Strangely it didn't work.

Nearly the end for the Elgar £20 note...

click here

Can you hear the strains of Nimrod playing in the background as Elgar's visage ebbs away?

Resurrected thread time : the new 50 GBP note, contrary to what was originally said above, is out on Wednesday.

Now is the time to campaign for someone musical to go on one of the other notes, I say!

March 13th is my birthday (65 next!), is that when the notes cease to be legal ?

Don't know for sure : but I suspect the old 50 GBP note will go out of circulation in about a year's time : it's going to be much easier to call the 50 GBP notes in as there are comparatively few of them out there.

I'm conflicted. We live very close to Elgar's home but my son shares the Scottish economists name, is Scottish and is a maths whizz. On this occasion blood has to be thicker than music!

Article about the new 50 GBP note : with sample pictures

BBC article about all the people who appear on English, Scottish and Northern Irish bank notes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15522387
Also includes a link to a list of nominees...

Terry Wogan?

We need some more women and everyone has to have been dead by at least 50 years!

Terry Wogan!!! They'll be saying, Aled Jones next!