The £50 banknote featuring a portrait of Sir John Houblon on the back will no longer be accepted as legal tender after Wednesday 30th April 2014. As from May 1st only £50 notes depicting entrepreneur Matthew Bolton and engineer James Watt will count as legal tender.
Sir John Houblon was appointed as the first Governor of the Bank of England in 1694. The £50 note celebrating him was issued in 1994 to coincide with the Bank of England’s 300th anniversary.
It is estimated that there are around 63 million £50 notes (worth £3.2 billion) in circulation with Houblon’s portrait so if you have cash lying about it would be worth checking as you may have one or more of the notes about to be axed.
The Bank of England is advising people who find they have a Houblon £50 note to spend , deposit or exchange it before 30th April 2014.
What happens if you miss the deadline ?
From the beginning of May Barclays, NatWest, Post Office, RBS and Ulster Bank have agreed to exchange up to £200 worth of notes for customers and non customers until 30th October 2014.Santander will also exchange notes but only for existing customers up to a value of £250. HSBC, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland and TSB will allow existing customers to deposit notes until the end of October with no limit on the amount , while Nationwide will allow existing customers to deposit £50 notes on an ongoing basis after the April deadline with no limit.
If you still have an old style Bank of England note after November 2014 the Bank of England will always exchange old series notes for their face value.
