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King Charles bank notes will not be in circulation for almost two years

Queen Elizabeth II money - Bryn Colton/Bloomberg
Queen Elizabeth II money - Bryn Colton/Bloomberg

Bank notes featuring the King’s portrait will not come into circulation for almost two years.

However, an image of the new design, which will feature on all four denominations of banknote, will be revealed by the Bank of England by the end of this year.

Coins featuring the portrait of His Majesty will enter circulation at a date yet to be confirmed but the Royal Mint has confirmed that coins featuring Queen Elizabeth will remain legal tender.

The Bank of England said that notes featuring the King’s image were expected to enter circulation by mid-2024.

At the request of the Royal household, existing notes featuring Queen Elizabeth will continue to be issued into circulation to minimise the environmental and financial impact of the change of monarch.

New notes will only be printed to replace worn banknotes and to meet any overall increase in demand and will co-circulate with those featuring the late Queen.

Meanwhile, the last planned set of stamps featuring Queen Elizabeth will be released in her memory on Tuesday; the first set to be approved by the King.

Queen Elizabeth II stamps
Queen Elizabeth II stamps

The four stamps feature images of the late Queen taken in four different decades and will go on sale on Nov 10.

A photograph taken by Dorothy Wilding in 1952 to mark the Queen’s accession and coronation will appear on the second-class stamp, while the first-class stamp will feature a photograph taken by Cecil Beaton in 1968, showing the late monarch standing in her admiral’s cloak with her head tilted to the left.

A portrait taken in November 1984 by Yousuf Karsh will appear on £1.85 stamps and a photograph taken by Tim Graham in 1996, when the Queen attended a banquet at Prague Castle during her visit to the Czech Republic, will feature on the £2.55 stamps.

All four images were released in the Golden Jubilee stamp issue in 2002 and were approved by the late Queen for issue that year.

Simon Thompson, chief executive of Royal Mail, said: “For the past 70 years every British stamp has been personally approved by Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.

“Today we are unveiling these stamps, the first to be approved by His Majesty The King, in tribute to a woman whose commitment to public service and duty was unparalleled in the history of this country.”

Queen Elizabeth’s silhouette will still feature

A Royal Mail spokesperson said that although it was the last planned set of stamps featuring the Queen’s image, its special stamps would continue to feature her silhouette for a while.

Regular “everyday” stamps will be updated to feature an image of the King but will not come into circulation until current stocks are exhausted.

His Majesty will appear on new first- and second-class stamps, as well as all those of other values.

Special stamps will also feature a silhouette of the King.

Royal Mail said that following guidance from the Royal household, again to minimise the financial and environmental impact, existing stocks of everyday definitive stamps featuring the Queen, as well as special stamps bearing her silhouette, would be distributed and issued as planned.

Stamps bearing the Queen’s image will remain valid for use.