British pound
Pound sterling · In circulation in 4 countries and territories
- ISO code
- GBP
- Symbol
- £
- Minor unit
- 100
- Notes
- 4
- Issued by
- Bank of England
Can old British pound notes still be exchanged?
Yes: with no deadline. Bank of England will still exchange £20, £50, £5, £10 notes from withdrawn series. They are no longer legal tender in shops, but they have not lost their value. How to exchange them →
Notes and coins in circulation
- £5
- £10
- £20
- £50
The British pound’s largest current denomination is £50, worth about $66.87: the 29th most valuable top note among the 150 circulating currencies we have verified, where the median is $27.18.
ATM commonly dispensed by cash machinestactile has a raised mark blind and low-vision holders can identify by touch
Bars are scaled to face value on a log scale, not to physical size. Colours are the issuer’s own. Converted at mid-market reference rates; what a counter pays is always less.
| Notes | Colour | Size (mm) | Portrait | Security features | Tactile mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £5 | turquoise | 125 × 65 | Winston Churchill | see-through window, foil Elizabeth Tower, raised print, ultraviolet number | no raised dots: identified as the smallest note |
| £10 | orange | 132 × 69 | Jane Austen | see-through window, foil Winchester Cathedral, raised print, ultraviolet number | two clusters of raised dots, top-left corner |
| £20 | purple | 139 × 73 | J. M. W. Turner | two see-through windows, colour-changing foil, raised print, ultraviolet number | three clusters of raised dots, top-left corner |
| £50 | red | 146 × 77 | Alan Turing | see-through window, colour-changing foil, raised print, ultraviolet number | four clusters of raised dots, top-left corner |
Withdrawn notes
| Value | Series | Portrait | Withdrawn | Still exchangeable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £20 | Series F (paper) | Adam Smith | 30 September 2022 | yes, no deadline |
| £50 | Series F (paper) | Matthew Boulton and James Watt | 30 September 2022 | yes, no deadline |
| £5 | Series E (paper, variant) | Elizabeth Fry | 5 May 2017 | yes, no deadline |
| £10 | Series E (paper, variant) | Charles Darwin | 1 March 2018 | yes, no deadline |
Getting cash
Most UK cash machines dispense £10 and £20 notes; £5 and £50 are uncommon from ATMs.
Telling a real note from a fake
Security features are designed to be checked by hand in a few seconds, tilt it, feel it, hold it to the light. These are the features Bank of England publishes for the British pound.
- £5: see-through window, foil Elizabeth Tower, raised print, ultraviolet number Tactile: no raised dots: identified as the smallest note
- £10: see-through window, foil Winchester Cathedral, raised print, ultraviolet number Tactile: two clusters of raised dots, top-left corner
- £20: two see-through windows, colour-changing foil, raised print, ultraviolet number Tactile: three clusters of raised dots, top-left corner
- £50: see-through window, colour-changing foil, raised print, ultraviolet number Tactile: four clusters of raised dots, top-left corner
The tactile marks matter beyond counterfeiting: they are how blind and low-vision holders identify a denomination by touch. Where a currency has none, size is usually the only cue.
What it is worth
| Currency | 1 GBP = | 1 unit = |
|---|---|---|
| USD | 1.3373 USD | 0.75 GBP |
| EUR | 1.1658 EUR | 0.86 GBP |
| INR | 128.2160 INR | 0.01 GBP |
Mid-market reference rates, snapshot 22 September 2026: indicative only. What you actually receive is always less. Work out the real cost →
Where it is used
- Guernsey
- Isle of Man
- Jersey
- United Kingdom
One currency across several jurisdictions: notes issued in one are normally accepted throughout, though local issuers and designs can differ.
Practical guides
Taking cash in and out of United Kingdom →
Declaration thresholds, the form to file, and the penalty for not declaring.
Torn or damaged money in United Kingdom →
How much of a note must survive, who redeems it, and what it costs.
Tools
What exchanging costs →
Paste the rate you were quoted and see the gap against mid-market.
Do I need to declare it? →
Both legs of any route: where you leave and where you arrive.
Is a torn note still valid? →
How much must survive, and who pays out.
How big is a British pound note? →
Drawn to scale against a bank card, and against any other currency.
One-page cash sheet →
Notes, border limits and damaged-note rules, on a page you can fold.
Sources: last verified 22 September 2026 secondary sourced
- Withdrawn banknotes: Bank of England · retrieved 22 September 2026 primary
- Exchanging old banknotes: Bank of England · retrieved 22 September 2026 primary
- Bank of England note issues (Wikipedia) · retrieved 22 September 2026 secondary