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Bank of England unveils 5 pound note featuring Winston Churchill

Xinhua, June 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Bank of England (BOE) on Thursday unveiled the design for a new 5 pound note, which will feature Sir Winston Churchill.

A portrait of the British Queen Elizabeth II will remain in her usual place on the front of the 5 pound note, but the rear will feature Churchill, who was twice British prime minister.

Churchill's first period as prime minister, 1940-45, saw him inspire an isolated Britain to continue World War II against Nazi Germany.

The announcement was made at Blenheim Palace outside Oxford in England, the ancestral home of the Churchill family. Winston Churchill was born at the palace in 1874.

BOE governor Mark Carney said at the announcement: "The new fiver will commemorate the achievements of the only British prime minister to win the Nobel Prize for literature and one of the greatest statesmen of all time -- Sir Winston Churchill."

"As he himself said, 'A nation that forgets its past has no future.' Our banknotes are repositories of the United Kingdom's collective memory," he added.

A new feature of the note is that it will be made of polymer rather than paper, the first time this has happened for this denomination of note. Polymer notes are more durable and harder to fake.

Carney said: "Like Churchill, our new polymer notes will stand the test of time. The new fiver, the first of the Bank's polymer notes, is cleaner, safer and stronger. It incorporates advanced security features making the notes even harder to counterfeit. The polymer is also harder wearing, as well as resistant to dirt and moisture, so we expect it to last for at least 2.5 times longer."

The portrait of Churchill on the note is taken from a photograph by Yousuf Karsh on Dec. 30, 1941, during Churchill's wartime premiership.

The note also includes a view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, with the time at 3 p.m. which is the time on May 13, 1940 that Churchill made his first speech as prime minister declaring: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." This declaration is quoted beneath the portrait.

A background image of the Nobel Prize medal which he was awarded in 1953 for literature, together with the wording of the prize citation, is also on the note.

The 5 pound note is the smallest denomination of note issued by the BOE, with other denominations being 10, 20 and 50. Enditem