Image rights: The Bank of England

The Bank of England is set to release its new polymer £10 note this September.

In the wake of the introduction of the new style £5 note earlier this year, The Bank of England are set to release a new £10 note in the same style this September. It is expected to go in to circulation on the 14th of this month after its production began last August.

Who will it feature?

Featuring legendary author Jane Austen, the note marks the 200th year of the Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice writers death. The author was chosen to be the new face of the ten pound note as ‘she is regarded one of the greatest writers in English literature’ said the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney.

The Governor said at the Winchester Cathedral, the resting place of Austen, “Our banknotes serve as repositories of the country’s collective memory, promoting awareness of the United Kingdom’s glorious history and highlighting the contributions of its greatest citizens.”

He went on to say “The new £10 note celebrates Jane Austen’s work.  Austen’s novels have a universal appeal and speak as powerfully today as they did when they were first published.”

Austen is, so far, the only woman aside from the queen to be featured on a note.

Additional new features to the note are raised dots on the top left hand corner of the note to help blind and partially sighted people.

When do you have to use your old £10 notes by?

The old style £10 notes will go out of circulation next Spring and will continue to be a legal tender until further notice. It will gradually be withdrawn when banked by retailers and members of the public.

What is the new note made of?

Similarly to the new £5 note, the £10 note will be made of polymer which contains tallow (a substance made from animal fat). There was a huge backlash when the new £5 was launched because of its use and 130,000 people signed an online petition to get the Bank of England to stop using the substance.

The bank said that the change in material would compromise anti-counterfeit measures and would not change the future production of the notes in this method.

The bank does say however that the material means that the new notes will last two and a half times longer than the current notes and will stay in better condition through day-to-day use.

The polymer £20 note, featuring the artist J.M.W Turner, is set to be launched in 2020.