The English have a new banknote, the £20 sterling note bearing the effigy of the painter Joseph Mallord William Turner Turner (1775-1851).
This note is the third denomination to be made of polymer instead of paper, after the £5 and £10 notes, launched in 2016 and 2017 respectively. It is also the first to be made from Safeguard, a substrate developed by the British banknote printer De La Rue. The new £20 is the 42nd banknote issued on this substrate worldwide. It is considered to be the most secure banknote in England ever put into circulation.
The new break also has the particularity of being able to come alive. The Bank of England has worked with the social network Snapchat to add augmented reality. With a smartphone and the Snapchat app, JMW Turner's paintings - The Last Journey of the Bold (1838) and the Self-portrait (1799) on display at the Tate Britain Museum - come to life. It works in the same way as the facial filters that the Snapchat application has become a specialty.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said: "Our banknotes celebrate the UK's extraordinarily rich heritage... I'm delighted that the work of the most influential British artist of all time now appears on 2 billion more works of art!"
The Last Voyage of the Bold The painting, currently on display at the National Gallery, was voted the favourite painting of the English (in a BBC Radio poll in 2005).
