Bank of England £5 note Bank of England £5 note The Bank of England £5 note, also known as a fiver, is a banknote of the pound sterling. It is the smallest denomination of banknote issued by the Bank of England. In September 2016, a new polymer note was introduced, featuring the image of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and a portrait of Winston Churchill on the reverse. The old paper note, first issued in 2002 and bearing the image of prison reformer Elizabeth Fry on the reverse, was phased out and ceased to be legal tender after 5 May 2017. Five pound notes
Bank of England note issues to combat forgery, higher denomination notes (at the time as high as £1,000) were removed from circulation. Banknotes in various denominations have been issued over time. The denominations are listed in this table, using information from the Bank of England's Withdrawn Banknote guide: The Bank of England's first ten-shilling (10/-) note was issued on 22 November 1928. This note featured a vignette of Britannia, a feature of the Bank's notes since 1694. The predominant colour was red-brown. Unlike previous notes it, and the contemporaneous £1 note, were not dated but are instead identified by the signature of the Chief Cashier