Old paper £20 notes (featuring Adam Smith) are no longer legal tender and cannot be used in shops, as they were withdrawn on 30 September 2022. However, they still hold their face value and can be deposited into UK bank accounts or exchanged at the Bank of England.
This note replaces our paper £20 note which was withdrawn from circulation after 30 September 2022. You may be able to deposit withdrawn notes at your own bank or with the Post Office. Alternatively, you can exchange withdrawn banknotes with selected Post Office branches or with the Bank of England.
No, there is no deadline to exchange old Bank of England banknotes; they retain their face value forever and can always be exchanged at the Bank of England or through UK banks/Post Office, though Post Offices have limits (e.g., £300) and specific processes for older notes, while modern polymer notes featuring Queen Elizabeth II are still legal tender.
If you have a UK bank account, the easiest and quickest way to exchange old banknotes is to pay them into your bank account. Banks and building societies that accept old paper notes as deposits include: Barclays. Halifax.
When do old £20 notes expire? 30th Septemper 2022!
How can you tell if a 20 pound note is rare?
'Rare' polymer £20 banknotes
Another type of serial number you should be keeping an eye out for, is a 'ladder'. These are serial numbers that have consecutive numbers, like this '001122' note. One lucky collector got his hands on this note but at a hefty £529…
Yes, you can still exchange ₹2000 notes in 2024 (and into 2025/2026), but the facility at regular bank branches ended October 7, 2023; now you must deposit or exchange them at any of the 19 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Issue Offices or send them via India Post to an RBI Issue Office for credit to your bank account, as the notes remain legal tender.
Banknotes from the first series are legal tender and will always retain their value. They will continue to circulate alongside the Europa series until the remaining stocks have been used up.
The British Pound: Over 1,200 Years Old The British pound, also known as the pound sterling, is the oldest currency still in use. It dates back to around 775 AD, during the Anglo-Saxon period, when silver pennies were first minted in what is now England.
Banknotes that feature the portrait of Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II remain legal tender and are co-circulating alongside King Charles III notes. New banknotes will only be printed to replace those that are worn or damaged to meet any overall increase in demand for banknotes.
It is U.S. government policy that all designs of Federal Reserve notes remain legal tender, or legally valid for payments, regardless of when they were issued. This policy includes all denominations of Federal Reserve notes, from 1914 to present as per 31 U.S.C. § 5103.
Notes which have become excessively soiled, brittle or are burnt and, therefore, cannot withstand normal handling can be exchanged only at Issue Office of the RBI. Persons holding such notes may approach the Officer-in-charge of the Claims Section, Issue Department of the Reserve Bank for this purpose.
Since October 9, 2023, individuals and businesses have been allowed to send their ₹2,000 currency notes through India Post to any of these 19 RBI issue offices. Once the notes reach the RBI office, the money will then be safely deposited directly into the sender's bank account.
This runs true with most banknotes: High value notes are rarer and therefore more likely to be valuable. For example, a £1,000 bank note from 1935 sold for £32,000 in 2022. This £1,000 note was worth more than 30-times its face value at auction.
Are paper notes still legal tender in the UK? Paper notes are no longer accepted as payment. £5 and £10 paper banknotes ceased to be legal tender in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Paper £20 and £50 denominations have not been usable since 2022.
This information is published on our website. The expected life of a banknote of each denomination. The average life is expected to be at least 5 years for polymer £5 and polymer £10 banknotes. Reflecting its different pattern of usage, the average lifespan for polymer £20 banknotes could be in excess of 20 years.
If you hold the note up to the light the metallic thread will appear as a continuous dark line. Hold the £20 note up to the light and you will see an image of the Queen's portrait together with a bright £20. The printed lines and colours on the £20 note are sharp, clear and free from smudges or blurred edges.
Figures from the Bank of England show that there were still 375 million old paper banknotes in circulation in the UK as of June 2025, worth almost £6.6 billion, even though the old paper £20 and £50 notes stopped being legal tender in October 2022.
