Plastic Bank Notes: From Novelty to Counterfeit Solution

Have you ever experienced the moment of panic when you start the washing machine, to realise that you have left a paper note in your pocket? Well, fear no more. While 1,801 notes were reported to have been washed last year, the Bank of England has begun circulating a polymer ‘plastic’ £5 note as of September 13^th and plan to expand this to the £10 and £20 notes by 2020. Phew. Although as thrilling as I found this, given its solution to my washing machine anxiety, the real reason lay behind the effectiveness of polymer bank notes in their resilience to their counterfeited ‘evil cousins’.

The move by the Bank of England follows the news that during the first half of 2016 around 152,000 Bank of England counterfeit banknotes were taken out of circulation with a face value of £3.3mn (Bank of England). Over time, new methods of faking bank notes have been created and the process can be undertaken quickly using skilled printers. Laser and inkjet image printing techniques have also allowed for digitally printed fakes to be produced and there is fear that those groups undertaking such methods are becoming increasingly more integrated thus creating increasingly more linked networks. The vast majority of counterfeited notes are discovered early on by the banking system when they are separated from genuine notes via a sorting process for re-circulation but of course, some do ‘slip through the net’. It is advised that if you believe you are being handed a counterfeited bank note, do not accept it as to distribute such material is a crime. However, the notional value of counterfeit bank notes has been steadily falling since 2012 and this new step by the Bank of England is believed to continue this fall.

In order to maintain confidence in the currency, new security features of the note include a large see-through window containing not only an image of the Queen but now a foil Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben), a hologram of the word ‘Five’ changing to the word ‘Pounds’ and a silver foil patch at the top of the tower with an image of the coronation crown which appears in 3D. We will also see new faces on the notes including Winston Churchill on the £5 and Jane Austen on the £10.

Further impetus for the move also came from the fact that polymer notes have a far better environmental performance than their cotton paper counterparts. The newer notes can be easily recycled into other plastic products when no longer needed and last around 2.5 times longer, hence reducing the current environmental strains on raw materials.

With the release of the new polymer £5 note, it is expected that the new £10 note will be issued by the summer of 2017, with the £20 note following by 2020. There are currently no plans, however, to replace the £50. ‘Note’ that counterfeited issue is not compensated for but at least you don’t have to worry if you accidentally put one in the washing machine!