New £10 Notes Released Today, But When Do We Need To Spend The Old Ones By?

The brand spanking new tenners are released today in the UK, and if it's anything like when the new polymer £5 notes entered into circulation last year, there will be some chancers trying to flog them on eBay for hundreds of pounds, videos of people trying to destroy them, and tales of confused shopkeepers refusing to accept them despite them being all over the news for the past six months.

The new polymer £10 notes feature an image of author Jane Austen, as well as a quote from her best-known work, Pride and Prejudice - "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!" It will also have similar security features to the fivers, making it harder for forgers to copy.

Credit: PA

The note replaces the paper ten-spot, which features the face of Charles Darwin. And you'll need to make sure that you've spent all your old Darwin notes by spring next year, when they stop being legal tender.

But don't worry about that too much just yet, because the bank of England will give a three-month notice of the date, so we can all rush out and panic-spend our hard-earned paper notes in Wetherspoons in good time.

via GIPHY

Those hoping to sell 'rare' notes will be keeping an eye out for low serial numbers; those starting with AA01. Last year, a £5 note with the serial number AA01000017 (the lowest number issued to the public) was sold at a charity auction for a whopping £4,105 ($5, 417). Not a bad mark-up.

Experts from Change Checker reckon that, as well as low serial numbers, notes with the serial numbers that begin with JA (Jane Austen's initials) and '16 121775' and '18 071817', which represent her birth and death years, will be worth keeping hold of.

Credit: PA

The experts warn that you might have a long wait for JA-numbered notes, though, due to the 'huge amount of possible combinations that would come before JA'.

The very first new note, with serial number AA01000001, will be presented to the Queen, Prince Philip gets the second one and Prime Minister Theresa May the third. It's unlikely any of those three will be putting a listing on eBay.

Sources: the Sun, Change Checker

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Bank of England

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19