Winston Churchill glowers from Blighty's plastic fiver

The Bank of England today unveiled the UK's first plastic banknote - a polymer fiver featuring Winston Churchill. Speaking at a ceremony at Churchill's birthplace, Blenheim Palace, the bank's governor Mark Carney declared: "The New Fiver will commemorate the achievements of the only Prime Minister to win the Nobel Prize for …

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool, I want one.

How much will they cost?

[davebarnes]

For most of us

$1.44 USD

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: For most of us

Was that a sly brexit joke, or bad sums?

[Oengus]

Re: For most of us

If I can get a fiver for $1.44 USD, I'll have a few million.

[Roq D. Kasba]

Re: For most of us

I'll take any the above poster isn't having - I will be able to guarantee the payment no quibble

[TimR]

Re: Cool, I want one.

I can get you as many as you want when they are issued - £10 each

[BurnT'offering]

Luvverly strorberries

Two punnets - all yours for a plastic Churchill.

It will succeed - the market has spoken

[Andy Scott]

Second plastic notes in general circulation in Blighty

The Clydesdale Bank released a plastic fiver into circulation in march last year in Scotland. I've had a few of them. I know at one point they were selling on eBay for £100 each.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/plastic-5-notes-are-going-into-circulation-in-britain-for-the-first-time-10128485.html

[RedCardinal]

Re: Second plastic notes in general circulation in Blighty

Ah but you're forgetting England = Britain....

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Second plastic notes in general circulation in Blighty

The BOE fiver will be the 3rd plastic note in the UK.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/MBg4fwz2QHKd49iKujCIXQ

[Anonymous Coward]

This'll make money laundering much easier.

[Cynical Observer]

No need to use a dry cleaner from now on....

Coat - looking for spare change

[Anonymous Coward]

That Churchill quote: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

And that's what chemical analysis will show to be present on most of the notes after just a few months in circulation.

[John Brown (no body)]

And heroin. You forget the heroin.

[itzman]

RE: blood, toil, tears and sweat.

And charlie.

The $64,000 question is whether the new surface is slick enough to let the coke crystals slide off.

[Oengus]

They survive laundering. Its the dryer that they don't like...

[BurnT'offering]

Will they shrink?

Like crisp packets? Will the hard, shrunken, shrivelled note be legal tender - as a coin?

[Triggerfish]

Re: Will they shrink?

Oooh like those plastic thingies you used to get in cereal boxes and bake in the oven?

[Wilseus]

Legal tender?

"Paper fivers will continue to be legal tender until May 2017, after which they'll no longer be accepted in shops and banks."

This makes no sense, the term legal tender has nothing to do with whether it is accepted in shops or banks. Shops in the UK are free to accept or not accept whatever payment they like, whether it's in gold bars, postage stamps or Euros.

Legal tender simply defines what a creditor must accept as payment for an outstanding debt.

[John H Woods]

Re: Legal tender?

"Legal tender simply defines what a creditor must accept as payment for an outstanding debt."

Does that include restaurant bills?

[jonathanb]

Re: Legal tender?

Yes, if the bill is presented to you after you eat the food, but not if you pay on order, like at for example McDonalds.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Legal tender?

"Yes, if the bill is presented to you after you eat the food, but not if you pay on order, like at for example McDonalds."

Poor example. McDonalds are not restaurants. They're closer to being a seaside cafe than a restaurant.

[Roq D. Kasba]

Re: Legal tender?

I always thought it was about settling debts to the state, ie taxes, otherwise I'm fully at liberty to accept or reject your cash/goats) as you please

[Natasha Live]

Re: Legal tender?

It's a good call to say the shops will not accept them, as the banks will refuse to accept them off shops after that date. If the shop can not pay it into the bank then their sure as hell note going to accept the note off the public.

If you want to run a barter system with the old notes then feel free.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Legal tender?

Natasha Live "...then their sure as hell..."

"...they're..."

[Kubla Cant]

Re: Legal tender?

I always thought it was about settling debts to the state, ie taxes, otherwise I'm fully at liberty to accept or reject your cash/goats) as you please

I suspect that if payment is offered in legal tender then you cannot seek legal remedy for non-payment.

As to whether the shops will continue to accept them, it surely depends on what the shopkeeper does with the contents of the till. If he deposits the cash at the bank, then demonetized fivers shouldn't be a problem. Many big shops accept USD and EUR even though they have never been legal tender. If he simply stuffs it in his wallet, then he's likely to be more choosy.

[Camilla Smythe]

Bonza!!

Get rid of those sharp corners, add a bit of RFID, printed semiconductor technology, and we are good to go on Facebook 'Minority Report'.

"Hello Neo. Is that a large bunch of Fivers in your pocket or are you looking to buy me?"

"Ello, Ello, Ello... I was not authorized to look but 'Subject Bob', according to his 'FCRs', Fiver Connection Records, was in the same gardening shop as that suspicious bloke buying fertilizer and used one to load up his car with diesel 10 minutes later..."

[maffski]

These new Fivers are useless

I wanted a Mars bar and a copy of Mongolian Throat Warblers Weekly, but apparently all they have to offer is 'blood, toil, tears and sweat'. Useless.

Oh go on then. I'll take the tears.

[Wolfclaw]

Madge still looks like she's sucked on something unpleasent, wheres the Duke.O.E ?

[DF118]

"the UK's first plastic banknote"

Wrong.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-32000610

[Jeffrey Nonken]

Re: "the UK's first plastic banknote"

From your link: "It is releasing the limited edition notes a year before the Bank of England puts plastic banknotes in general circulation."

So I guess it depends on how fine you want to split hairs. It's not the first, but it's the first "in general circulation".

An argument could be made either way. Just sayin'.

[DF118]

Re: "the UK's first plastic banknote"

I see your point, but unequivocal statements like "the UK's first..." are either true or they're false, so I can't in good geek conscience agree that an argument could be made either way. Nor would I admit to splitting hairs, because the article doesn't say the Clydesdale notes aren't in general circulation (clearly they are - I've bought beer with them ;o) only that the BofE ones would be in future.

[JaitcH]

Will offer "enhanced resilience" against counterfeiting, the Bank of England assures!!!

Vietnamese Dong notes are printed in Australia. They seem not to have mastered the techniques for making blue coloured notes retain their colour.

What amazes me is the way ATM technology can manage to handle these extremely thin notes.

As for counterfeiting, the B of E is dreaming.

In VietNam the penalty for counterfeiting is death. Even though the highest Dong note (VND500,000) is only worth GBP15.4387 there are many deceased Chinese buried outside Ha Noi attesting to the fact that counterfeiting is a likely crime opportunity with the new Pound notes.

[Z80]

£15.4387

Thanks for the precision there.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: Will offer "enhanced resilience" against counterfeiting, the Bank of England assures!!!

"the new Pound notes"

If someone offers you one of those be very suspicious.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Will offer "enhanced resilience" against counterfeiting, the Bank of England assures!!!

"Even though the highest Dong note (VND500,000) is only worth GBP15.4387"

Oh, come onnnnnn!!!! This is El Reg. You can't mention the highest denomination Viet currency without calling it a huge Dong!

[Triggerfish]

@ John Brown (no body)

Yes I went to Vietnam I had my hands on many Dongs, at one point I had a whole fistful of Dongs, Dongs I've seen facking thousands of 'em.

It's also amazing what you can get when you wave your Dong around out there.

[Triggerfish]

Re: Will offer "enhanced resilience" against counterfeiting, the Bank of England assures!!!

Should be noted though that 500,000 dong might only be worth £15.363956 (according to google), but that £15.363956 is more than the average daily wage, monthly wage is about £110. So counterfeiting a 500,000 dong is actually a fair bit for vietnam.

As an example, as a tourist that would get me a decent hotel room, a reasonable evening meal and a couple of beers in Hanoi.

[Timo]

It is safe in the washing machine - how about the dryer?

OK so it can make it through the washer, but what happens in the dryer? Will it shrink up like heat-shrink tubing, or like shrinky-dinks?

And - "will it blend?"

[Darryl]

Re: It is safe in the washing machine - how about the dryer?

If it's the same material as Canadian dollars, they don't handle the dryer at high heat very well. Gets all crumple-y, but still recognizable.

The two most annoying things are, they're very thin and tend to static together when new, so you have to be very careful you're only handing over one bill, and when they get folded crooked, it's almost impossible to un-crease them and re-fold them straight.

[Bob Rocket]

Re: It is safe in the washing machine - how about the dryer?

'and when they get folded crooked, it's almost impossible to un-crease them'

This is the UK, I give it 4 days after launch before the vast majority of notes have creases that produce an obscene image.

[h4rm0ny]

Re: It is safe in the washing machine - how about the dryer?

Well it already has Churchill on it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: It is safe in the washing machine - how about the dryer?

4 days, as long as that?

[JeffyPoooh]

Re: It is safe in the washing machine - how about the dryer?

"... they don't handle the dryer at high heat very well..."

If the contents of your clothes dryer are getting hot enough to crinkle plastic, then you're drying your clothes wrong.

An opportunity presents itself to save money by setting your dryer to end just when the clothes are barely dry, not roasted.

[JeffyPoooh]

Copyright...

Karsh's estate will charge £6 copyright fee per bill.

[Daedalus]

Time to coin it.

Couldn't help noticing on a visit to the homeland that 5 quid gets you about the same as 50p used to in certain outlets, like those dodgy arcade stalls. Having a note for such a minimal amount seems silly. Time for a 5 quid coin.

[phuzz]

Re: Time to coin it.

£5 will still buy you 500 penny sweets, is there any other measure of buying power that matters?

[x 7]

the Manx Goverment released plastic pound notes around 30 years ago. Problem was they lasted too well, the manufacturers never got a repeat order and went bust. Next batch of notes reverted to paper.......

I've still got one somewhere

[Phil O'Sophical]

the Manx Goverment released plastic pound notes around 30 years ago

Didn't they also release a 50p note (paper, or plastic?), instead of a coin, to replace the old 10 bob note? I saved one, I wonder if I still have it. Time to rummage in some old pockets...

[Securitymoose]

Isle of Man did this nearly 50 years ago - at last our Mint wakes up

The Tyvek or ‘plastic’ £1 note was first issued in November 1983. The 10 shilling note was introduced in 1961 and the 50p note in 1969.

[Kubla Cant]

Re: Isle of Man did this nearly 50 years ago - at last our Mint wakes up

I think the Isle of Man issues novel notes and coins with an eye on the collector market. I recall that they issued a £1 coin some time before the Royal Mint did, and advertised it as the "Round Pound".

[Anonymous Coward]

So

Do they stink if you use them to light a cigar?

Do they react with Uncle Charlie?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just in time for this, I started making handmade paper

yes. And trying to learn shadow watermarks, too...

the "good" thing is that if I get too good, no one will assume I am after counterfeiting. And I intend to be too good!

BTW, Nepal already several years ago had been using polymer banknotes. AND they had fully operational electric vehicles all over, doing most of Kathmandu's public transportation.

my paper

http://papeltexano.org

Electric vehicles in Nepal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye6i-AfQNmo

[Old Handle]

Not very subtle with the EURrion marks, were they? They look rather ugly and out of place.

[TheProf]

And that word SPECIMEN printed right across the banknote. What were they thinking??

[Andrew Jones 2]

"Paper fivers will continue to be legal tender until May 2017"

Really? Is this something that has been widely publicised?

[John Brown (no body)]

Does it need to be with nearly a year to go? How many people keep fivers for that long? As shops bank them they will be replaced naturally, as they do already with the existing paper ones when banked (if worn or damaged etc)

[allthecoolshortnamesweretaken]

Life in plastic, it's fantastic...

BTW, how do the new notes handle being rolled up?

[mix]

Can they be folded into amusing things though?

http://mentalfloss.com/uk/art/31190/how-to-make-an-origami-hat-for-the-queen-out-of-10

[Anonymous Coward]

I have nothing to offer, but Blood, Sweat and Tears

Why is the conservative election manifesto printed on the banknote?

[Hi Wreck]

What is the world coming to?

The mighty pound of sterling silver is now reduced to cheap plastic, er, excuse me polymer. And its likely made in China too.

[Pedigree-Pete]

Made in China... I think not(e)

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjN3qiT_4vNAhWGIcAKHTfJDaAQFgg2MAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBanknotes_of_the_pound_sterling&usg=AFQjCNG1H7ha-J-vefieHtLx04y0p11wmw&sig2=GX0-xa5P3gp9M4JMg_TCkA&bvm=bv.123664746,d.ZGg

[Stevie]

Bah!

Pfft! Pitiful effort. 3/10 See Me.

Canada's fivers have a see-through window built in. Now *that* is a properly weird banknote.

[ukgnome]

We need 20's and 50's in this non-stick form.

To really get your monies worth from Charles