Time to raid your money boxes and check for £10 notes, as the old paper £10 note featuring Charles Darwin will be withdrawn tomorrow at 23:59 (Thursday 1 March). The Bank of England are encouraging anyone who still has any to use them in the next week.
Over 73% of £10 notes in circulation are polymer, but there are still around 211 million paper £10 notes left in circulation. Put end to end, that’s enough notes to retrace almost half of Darwin’s journey on HMS Beagle. Or, they would weigh the same as nearly two thousand giant Galápagos tortoises that Darwin saw on his travels.
After 1 March 2018, the new polymer note featuring Jane Austen will be the only £10 note with legal tender status. The Post Office, banks and building societies may accept paper £10 notes after 1 March but this is at their own discretion. Most retailers will no longer accept the paper £10 note as payment. The Bank of England will continue to exchange Darwin £10 notes for all time, as it would for any other Bank of England note which no longer has legal tender status, but you will have to post the cash to them directly.
