The Bank of England has confirmed that the new £20 note featuring artist William Turner entered circulation on Thursday.

This is the first time a £20 note has been made from polymer plastic, rather than paper, and will start appearing at ATMs and tills across the country this week.

The Bank of England estimates 50 per cent of cash machines will be dispensing the new note within two weeks.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney said: “Our banknotes celebrate the UK’s extraordinarily rich and diverse heritage and highlight the contributions of its greatest citizens. Turner’s art was transformative.”

The note joins the Churchill £5 polymer note and the Austen £10. A £50 note featuring Alan Turing will be issued in 2021.

The bank has worked with Snapchat to develop a lens which will allow the public to see their cash in a new dimension through augmented reality. 

The new note is also the first to feature the signature of Sarah John, the bank’s current chief cashier. John said:  “Moving the £20 note to polymer marks a major step forward in our fight against counterfeiting. 

“I am very grateful to everyone across the cash industry who has made this transition possible and I hope the public enjoy using their new Turner £20s.”

The old paper £20 notes can continue to be used as normal and consumers will be given a six-month notice if the legal tender status of old notes is to be withdrawn. 

The £20 is reportedly the most secure Bank of England note yet featuring a number of ‘hidden’ security features. They are:

• A large see-through window with a blue and gold foil on the front depicting Margate lighthouse

• A silver foil on the back. This combination of foil colours reportedly makes it “very difficult to counterfeit”

• Another large window based on the shape of the fountains in Trafalgar Square

• A smaller see-through window in the bottom corner of the note, inspired by Tintern Abbey

• Turner’s self-portrait painted in 1799 and currently on display at the Tate Britain

• A sketch of the HMS Temeraire, a tribute to the ship which was instrumental in Nelson’s battle of Trafalgar

• A metallic hologram which changes between the words ‘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 path containing the letter ‘T’ and based on the staircase at Tate Britain

• A quote ‘light is therefore colour’ from an 1818 lecture by Turner referring to the innovative use of light, shade, colour, tone and pictures

• Turner’s signature from his will, the document with which he bequeathed many of his paintings to the nation 

There are over 2 billion £20 notes in circulation.

Laid end to end two billion £20 notes would stretch around the world almost seven times and weight a total of 1,780 tonnes. 

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