Watch: New £20 banknote unveiled by Bank of England

The design of the new polymer £20 banknote that features JMW Turner has been unveiled by the Bank of England on Thursday.

The new polymer banknote will be issued on 20 February 2020 and also have sophisticated security features. The current £20 banknote is the forged note and makes up around 88% of detected forgeries in the first six months of 2019, the Bank of England said.The Bank said, the new note is “the most secure Bank of England banknote yet.”Mark Carney the governor of the Bank of England said, “Turner’s legacy endures today through his influence on art for over two centuries, to the prize that bears his name to celebrate British contemporary art, to this magnificent gallery, the Turner Contemporary.

“Soon Turner’s work will feature on another two billion works of art – the new £20 notes from the Bank of England.”

He added, “Turner’s contribution to art extends well beyond his favourite stretch of shoreline. Turner’s painting was transformative, his influence spanned lifetimes, and his legacy endures today.

“The new £20 note celebrates Turner, his art and his legacy in all their radiant, colourful, evocative glory.”

Also, the new banknote will have the signature of Sarah John, the chief cashier of the Bank.

She said, “The new £20 is an important part of our commitment to providing banknotes that people can use with confidence.

“Our polymer notes are much harder to counterfeit and, with the £20 being our most common note, this marks a big step forward in our fight against counterfeiting.”

The features of the new £20 banknote are:

• A large see-through window with a blue and gold foil on the front depicting Margate lighthouse and Turner Contemporary.
• The foil is silver on the back. The shape of the large window is based on the shape of the fountains in Trafalgar Square.
• Tintern Abbey inspired a smaller see-through window in the bottom corner of the note.
• Turner’s self-portrait, painted in around 1799 which can be seen on display at Tate Britain in London.
• A metallic hologram which changes between the word ‘Twenty’ and ‘Pounds’ when the note is tilted.
• The Queen’s portrait in the see-through window with “£20 Bank of England” printed twice around the edge.
• A silver foil patch with a 3D image of the coronation crown.
• A purple foil patch containing the letter ‘T’ and based on the staircase at the Tate Britain.
• The artwork features Fighting Temeraire, which is one of Turner’s most famous paintings. This was a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire, which played a distinguished role in Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
• The numbers and letters in the vertical serial number are all the same height and colour. The horizontal serial number is multi-coloured and increases in height from left to right.