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The
20 pound note is the third to be made of durable polymer
material rather than paper, following the launch of new five
pound and 10 pound notes in 2016 and 2017.
"Moving the 20 pound note to polymer marks a major step forward
in our fight against counterfeiting," the BoE's chief cashier,
Sarah John, said.
There are currently around 2 billion paper 20 pound notes in
circulation in Britain, featuring the 18th century economist
Adam Smith, and they will remain legal tender for now.
The BoE said it expected it would take two weeks before half of
cash machines in Britain were dispensing the new notes.
BoE Governor Mark Carney, who was due to launch the banknote at
London's Tate Britain gallery on Thursday, said Turner was
"arguably the single most influential British artist of all
time".
Turner is best known for his seascapes, which grew more abstract
with age.
As well as his self-portrait, the new note features one of
Turner's most famous paintings, "The Fighting Temeraire", which
depicts the last journey of a ship that played a key role in
Britain's naval victory over France in the 1805 Battle of
Trafalgar.
A new polymer 50 pound note, featuring the 20th century
mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing, is due to
enter circulation next year.
(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by William Schomberg)
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