THE NEW £5 NOTE

As usual on a Tuesday I had a leisurely breakfast and read the Radio Times which gets delivered every Tuesday.  My son in law always buys me a years subscription which covers my birthday and Christmas presents.  Suits me as I enjoy reading it and it suits him as its an easy gift for him to purchase.

This afternoon I walked down to the village ( to get extra steps ) and got the bus to Gateshead. Went to Matalan which is a short walk from the centre. Got a couple of things.  Then headed for Tesco.  Spotted a Snowdog in Trinity Square - you can see him on Flickr as I am running out of Extras here.  His name is SQUARES.

Listened to the football on the radio this evening. Newcastle were playing Wolves - again - in a Cup game.  Decided not to attend in person as I am not too keen on evening games as the buses in the evening aren't too frequent.  So as its a Cup game I decided not to bother. ( I will go to league games as they are included in my Season Ticket. )  Newcastle won 2 - 0. A better performance than Saturday.

I got some of the new polymer £5 notes out of the cash machine this afternoon so decided to blip the old and the new fivers. The new ones were just released this week.

The Bank of England has three main reasons for moving to polymer notes from the current cotton paper ones. The new plastic pounds are:~

# Resistant to dirt and moisture so stay cleaner for longer than paper banknotes

# More secure so will provide enhanced counterfeit resilience

# More durable so will increase the quality of banknotes in circulation

And as a result of lasting longer, polymer banknotes are also more environmentally friendly than the current ones - as they last two-and-a-half times longer.


They have extra security features:~

# A see-through window featuring the Queen’s portrait. The border of the window changes from purple to green.

#  The Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) shown in gold foil on the front of the note and silver on the back.

#  A hologram which contains the word ‘Five’ and changes to ‘Pounds’ when the note is tilted.

#  A hologram of the coronation crown which appears 3D and multi-coloured when the note is tilted.

# A green foil hologram of the maze at Blenheim Palace, Churchill’s birthplace and ancestral home.

# Micro-lettering beneath the Queen’s portrait with tiny letters and numbers that are visible under a microscope.

# The words ‘Bank of England’ printed in intaglio (raised ink) along the top of the note.

The new notes are smaller and lighter. The polymer £5 note is 125mm x 65mm (the current paper note is 135mm x 70mm); the new £5 note weighs around 0.7g (the current paper note weighs around 0.9g).

The old paper £5 notes remain legal tender until May 2017.

There is to be a new polymer £10 note issued in June 2017 featuring novelist Jane Austin while artist JMW Turner will appear on the new polymer £20 note - set to appear by 2020.

Steps today - 12,082