The new, polymer £10 note is being unveiled by Bank of England governor Mark Carney on Tuesday. This marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Jane Austen, who features on the new bank note.

Austen will be the only woman - apart from the Queen - to be featured on an English bank note, following the withdrawal of the old £5 notes, which featured Elizabeth Fry, in May. Fry was replaced with a picture of Winston Churchill.

Paper bank notes - £5, £10 and £20 - are slowly being replaced by plastic notes, which are more secure and resilient to counterfeiting, more resistant to dirt and more durable.

The paper fiver is no longer legal tender, and once the new £10 note enters circulation in September this year, its paper predecessor will also be withdrawn from circulation.

What will the new £10 look like?

The new £10 note will feature English novelist Austen with plump cheeks and a calm expression, taken from a portrait which was commissioned after her death at the age of 41.


As well as Austen's portrait, the tenner will feature a quote from Pride and Prejudice when Miss Bingley exclaims: "I declare after all there is no enjoyment but reading!"

The new note will also reportedly be smaller than the current one, but larger than the new fiver.


Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/new-jane-austen-10-note-coming-will-look-like/