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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Alice Irving

The new £20 note is being released on Thursday - here's what it looks like and what you need to know about exchanging old notes

The new Bank of England £20 will be released on Thursday.

The note - which was first unveiled last October - will be made from the flexible plastic material polymer.

And it will be smaller than the old £20 note measuring 139mm x 73mm.

As well as a portrait of The Queen, the Bank of England will also pay tribute to English Romantic painter JMW Turner.

Turner was announced as the face of the note in April 2016.

His self-portrait - which was painted circa 1799 and is currently on display at Tate Britain - will be featured on one side.

And behind his image will be a print one of his most famous paintings The Fighting Temeraire - a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire.

The back of the new £20 note (Bank of England/PA Wire)

The words 'Light is therefore colour' will be positioned over the bottom right corner of his portrait underneath his signature.

This quote is from a lecture he gave in 1818 commenting on his artistic use of light, shade, colour and tone.

The new note will also feature a round, purple foil patch containing the letter ‘T’, see-through windows and hologram transitioning between ‘Twenty’ and ‘Pounds’ when tiltled.

There will also be three clusters of raised dots to help blind and partially-sighted people identify the note's value as well as raised print on the words 'Bank of England'.

And under ultra-violet light, the number ‘20’ will appear in bright red and green.

The front of the new £20 note (Bank of England/PA Wire)

How do I exchange my old notes?

You will still be able to use old £20 notes until the Bank of England announces an official withdrawal date.

The date will be issued following the release of the new £20 note and there will be a six-month notice period before the old note gets withdrawn.

Many banks will still accept withdrawn notes as deposits.

The Post Office may also accept withdrawn notes a deposit into any bank account you can access via The Post Office.

But the simplest and quickest way to exchange old notes is to deposit them with your bank.

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