Got Foreign Currency Lying Around? These Notes Are About to Be Worthless

If you were a frequent traveler to England or like to keep foreign currency, this may interest you. The Bank of England (BoE) has announced that come October 1, 2022 the paper £20 and £50 notes will be worthless.

According to Yahoo UK, BoE is “urging anyone who has these at home to spend or deposit them at their bank or Post Office. There are approximately £9bn ($12bn) worth of paper £20 and £15bn worth of paper £50 notes still in circulation, the Bank said.”

Come October 1, the paper £20 and £50 notes will be “replaced with the new polymer £20 notes featuring JMW Turner, and polymer £50 notes featuring Alan Turing.”

I used to keep a little change purse of bank notes from all around the world, especially when I was traveling like a madman. But that was a decade ago and a lot has changed since then. These days, I rarely even take money out of the ATM since the fees are so high and I pay for everything with a credit card that doesn’t have foreign transaction fees (here are some to consider).

Come to think of it, on my last trip to London, I spent a week there with my wife, son and mother-in-law and I didn’t even take out my credit card. I paid everything with my phone using Apple Pay. Times have changed, eh?

Here are some key facts about the deadline and the security features of the new notes.