Banknotes featuring a portrait of King Charles III were first issued on 5 June 2024. The portrait of the King appears on existing designs of all four banknotes (£5, £10, £20, and £50), with no other changes to the existing designs. This means you can check these notes in the same way you can check our polymer banknotes featuring Queen Elizabeth II.
Banknotes that feature the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II will remain legal tender and are co-circulating alongside King Charles III notes.
New King Charles III banknotes will only be printed to replace those that are worn and to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes. Our approach is in line with guidance from the Royal Household, to minimise the environmental and financial impact of this change.
Banknotes featuring the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, will remain legal tender, and can continue to be used. There is no need to exchange current banknotes for the new King Charles III notes.
We recognise that people may be interested in seeing the new notes, and have therefore put in place temporary facilities to allow people to obtain a limited value of the King Charles III banknotes - there will be a limit per person.
You can obtain the new King Charles III banknotes using our postal exchange service. If you send us current or old series banknotes, along with a completed application form, we will return King Charles III banknotes to you in exchange. The exchanged notes can only be sent to a UK address.
Application form for King Charles III banknotes
This postal service will be available to UK residents only from 5 June to 30 June 2024 up to a limit of £300 per customer. Cash sent to us in excess of this amount will be returned to you by your requested Return Postal Method, alongside the £300 of King Charles III banknotes. Applications should be made using the form.
Due to large volumes of applications for King Charles III banknotes being received, please allow up to 8 weeks for your application to be processed before contacting us.
The Bank’s counter will now only be issuing Queen Elizabeth II banknotes.
See information on other ways of exchanging old banknotes.
If your business uses, or is responsible, for any machines that accept, sort or check banknotes, you need to plan for their adaptation to work with the new note designs.
