Bank Notes - themes for images to be used in the future

[whole diary]

[Andy]

True, but I'm not sure how the Bank of England issuing notes with Alsthom /Siemens Eurostars and Hitachi IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) would go down with the little Englanders...

Scarily,  158s are knocking on for 40, and not far off the same age as Evening Star was in the year 2000.

[Bob_Blakey]

On the £5 note I would definitely have 'Catch Me Who Can' - not Trevithick's first locomotive but probably the best known - because everything else has followed from that.

[JayMac]

I guess it depends how you define "first".  I thought the Class 81 was the first fleet of electric locos that BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) received.

The Class 76 (EM1) and Class 77 (EM2) locomotives used on the Woodhead route predate the Class 81. They were 1.5kV DC^▸ (Direct Current). The Class 81s were the first fleet of 25kV AC^▸ (Air Conditioning, or Alternating Current (electricity), depending on context) locomotives.

[Merthyr Imp]

'Catch Me Who Can' - not Trevithick's first locomotive but probably the best known - because everything else has followed from that.

Now I would have said the Penydarren Engine was better known - and not just because this stands just down the road from me:

[Western Pathfinder]

 I'd very much like to see the Titfield thunderbolt on a £10 note .

[Andy]

I'd very much like to see the Titfield thunderbolt on a £10 note .

Why not Titfield Thunderbolt on the tenner, Thomas the Tank Engine on a fiver, Ivor the Engine on the £20 and Hogwarts Express on the £50?
:-)

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Wildlife to replace historical figures on banknotes

[Image from here is not available to guests]

British wildlife will replace historical figures on the next series of Bank of England banknotes - and the public will get their say on which animals and birds will appear.

Images of wildlife would be difficult to counterfeit, while also allowing for a celebration of nature across the country, the Bank said. It spells the end for the, sometimes controversial, choice of historical characters which have appeared on £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes for more than 50 years.

A panel of experts will draw up a wildlife shortlist to put before the public. The final decision is made by the Bank's governor but it is likely to be a few years before the new notes enter circulation.

"The key driver for introducing a new banknote series is always to increase counterfeit resilience, but it also provides an opportunity to celebrate different aspects of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)," said the Bank's chief cashier, Victoria Cleland, whose signature appears on notes.

Nature was the most popular theme in the 44,000 responses to a public consultation and focus groups on banknote imagery. Some 60% of respondents selected it as one of their preferred themes, ahead of architecture and landmarks (56%); historical figures (38%); arts, culture and sport (30%); innovation (23%); and noteworthy milestones (19%), the Bank said.

Wildlife already appears on banknotes in the UK, with mackerel, otters, red squirrels and osprey featuring on notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Well, we already have an otter and a red squirrel making appearances here, on the Coffee Shop forum.

[Oxonhutch]

An update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Wildlife to replace historical figures on banknotes

I wonder which creature will be replacing Charles III ? 

[ChrisB]

I suspect it's the obverse side from Charlie....