Pound sterling Banknotes and Coins

Pound sterling is divided into 100 pence. The Bank of England currently issues four polymer notes: £5, £10, £20 and £50. Coins run from 1p and 2p through 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p to £1 and £2.

The pocket shortcut Learn the blue-green £5, orange-brown £10, purple £20 and red £50. Then remember that a completely different-looking Scottish or Northern Irish note can still be worth exactly the same number of pounds.

Two monarchs, one current series

Bank of England notes featuring King Charles III entered circulation on 5 June 2024. Notes carrying Queen Elizabeth II remain current and circulate alongside them. The portrait changed; the reverse subjects, colors, sizes and security features stayed the same.

Note	Fast color cue	Reverse subject
£5	Blue and turquoise	Winston Churchill
£10	Orange and brown	Jane Austen
£20	Purple	JMW Turner
£50	Red	Alan Turing

See the cash

Paper money

Pound notes come in bold polymer colours with familiar portraits, making the £5, £10, £20 and £50 easy to separate in a busy pocket.

The Bank of England polymer series turns the wallet into a gallery of British history, literature, art and science, with Churchill, Austen, Turner and Turing on the reverse. Cash by Country artwork is an original, simplified interpretation and is not legal tender.

The United Kingdom has more than one banknote look

Three authorised banks issue notes in Scotland and three issue notes in Northern Ireland. Their designs differ from Bank of England notes and from one another, but they are denominated in the same pound sterling. This is not a souvenir-currency system; it is part of everyday UK cash.

One pound, several visual languages A business may decide which payments it accepts. “Legal tender” is a narrow debt-law term, not a rule forcing a shop to accept every note. If you receive a regional note and are travelling onward, use it where it is familiar or ask a bank about exchanging it.

The coins are easier than they first appear

The tiny copper-colored 1p and 2p sit at the bottom. The 5p and 10p are round and silver-colored. The 20p and 50p have seven curved sides. The modern £1 has twelve sides and two colors; the £2 is larger, round and bimetallic. A pocketful can feel visually busy, but shape does much of the work.

Old paper notes are not spending money

Current Bank of England notes are polymer. Withdrawn paper notes keep their face value and can be exchanged through the Bank of England, but they are no longer normal shop currency. If an old note appears in change, do not rely on spending it later.