Bank of England note issues England Mark Carney announced that a newly designed £10 banknote, featuring novelist Jane Austen, would be issued in 2017. The campaign for a woman to appear celebrated the choice as "a brilliant day". The date of issue was subsequently confirmed as 14 September 2017. Like the £5 note featuring Churchill, the new £10 note is made from polymer rather than cotton paper. It depicts: £20 notes, in white, appeared in 1725 and continued to be issued until 1943. They ceased to be legal tender in 1945. After World War II, the £20 denomination did not reappear until 1970, when the
Bank of England 10s note part-printed and could be exchanged, in whole or in part, for an equivalent amount of gold when presented at the bank. During the First World War the British Government wanted to maintain its stocks of bullion and so banks were ordered to stop exchanging banknotes for gold. One pound and 10 shilling notes were introduced by the Treasury in lieu of gold sovereigns. These notes were nicknamed "Bradburys" because of the prominent signature of Sir John Bradbury, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury displayed on the notes. Britain returned to the gold standard in 1925, but the Bank of England was