With effect from 12 September 2012, the Bank of England will be issuing into circulation £5, £10 and £20 notes bearing the signature of the current Chief Cashier, Chris Salmon. The notes are the same design as those bearing the signature of Andrew Bailey, the previous Chief Cashier. These notes will circulate alongside each other interchangeably, and have the same legal tender status. £50 notes bearing Chris Salmon’s signature were first issued in November 2011.
Notes bearing Chris Salmon’s signature will be made available to the cash industry from 12 September and will start to be dispensed form some ATMs and be available at branch counters shortly thereafter. ‘Salmon notes’ will also be available from the Bank of England counter on Threadneedle Street from 12 September. Low serial numbered notes will not be available from the Bank. However, the Bank will be holding a charity banknote auction on 26 September at Spink auctioneers. The auction, which is primarily of Boulton and Watt £50 notes, will also include a selection of the first printed £5, £10 and £20 bearing the signature of Chris Salmon.
The new notes bearing Chris Salmon’s signature were produced with printing plates made under a different manufacturing method. This has not changed the appearance of the notes.
The above two changes are taking place at the same time in order to minimise the cost to the cash industry of upgrading banknote authentication machines.
Notes to Editors
1. Chris Salmon was appointed as Chief Cashier, and Executive Director for Banking Services, in April 2011.
2. Chris Salmon’s signature already appears on the new-style £50 note, featuring Matthew Boulton and James Watt, which was issued into circulation on 2 November 2011.
3. There will be no need for the public to change any of the current series notes bearing Andrew Bailey’s signature. These will continue to be legal tender and will be widely available in ATMs and from banks and retailers.
4. The opening hours of the Bank of England counter are Monday to Friday 9.00 until 15.00, excluding Bank Holidays.
5. Further details about the charity banknote auction are available from Spinks’ website www.spink.com
6. The Bank’s banknote printer, De La Rue, previously used printing plates produced via the film exposure method. However, due to the diminishing demand for this technology in the printing community, De La Rue have changed to printing plates which are produced via the direct laser engraving method, known as ‘computer to plate’ technology. This change was made at their own expense.