There was a new 5 pound note released recently made of plastic. But why was this introduced and how is it an improvement upon the paper 5 pound note?
The Royal MINT have stated that the new fiver is ‘more durable’, it is more clean and is a lot stronger than its paper version and it is a lot harder to counterfeit. It has cost the Royal Mint 70,000,000 pounds to launch the plastic fiver, but costs only 7 pence to print.
Of course, with all pound notes, it must feature a famous British figure, and the face for this ‘Plastic Fiver’, is none other than Winston Churchhill. The Royal MINT commented that they were looking for someone who had re-shaped British society, and Winston Churchill managed to fit that role.
The Royal MINT also plan to have a plastic 10 pound note to be introduced in 2017, and a plastic 20 pound note to come in 2020.
