Since 1953, a year after the Queen came to the throne, UK coins have featured five different versions of her portrait. It has appeared on the country’s banknotes since 1960. But now the Bank of England, which prints the country’s banknotes, and the Royal Mint, which makes its coins, face the big task of withdrawing this coin from circulation and replacing it with money bearing the king’s portrait Charles III. There are more than 4.7 million banknotes in circulation in the UK, worth a total of 82 billion pounds ($95 billion), according to the central bank. About 29 billion coins are also in circulation, the Royal Mint said. The new money is likely to be introduced gradually and co-exist as legal tender with the old notes and coins for a period of time. A similar phase-in occurred in 2017 when the Royal Mint began issuing a new 12-sided £1 coin. The new coin circulated alongside the old round £1 for six months before the latter lost its legal tender status. But it’s not just cash that requires replenishment. The UK is facing a mammoth operation to change royal insignia on thousands of post boxes and newly issued passports.

No change yet

The Royal Mint said in a statement on its website that coins bearing the Queen’s image “remain legal tender and in circulation” and that their production will continue as usual during “this period of respectful mourning”. The Bank of England said the “iconic portraits of the Queen [were] synonymous’ with some of his most important works. “The current banknotes bearing the image of Her Majesty The Queen will continue to be legal tender,” it said in a statement on Thursday. (At one point on Friday, so many people were trying to access the Royal Mint website that there was a virtual queue to get in.) The central bank said it would present its plans to replace the existing banknotes once the mourning period ends. The Royal Mint also said it would make an announcement in due course.
The Queen’s image is also featured on some banknotes and coins across the Commonwealth – a union of 54 countries, almost all of which were formerly colonized by the United Kingdom. In Canada, where the Queen remains head of state, her image is depicted on plastic $20 bills. “The current multilateral $20 note is intended to be in circulation for years to come. There is no legislative requirement to change the design within a specified period when the Monarch changes,” said Amélie Ferron-Craig, spokeswoman for the Bank of Canada. a statement to CNN Business. Canada’s finance minister is responsible for approving the design of new banknotes, Ferron-Craig added, and issuing these notes usually takes a few years. In Australia, too, the Queen’s portrait appears on the $5 bill. The Reserve Bank of Australia said on Friday there would be “no immediate change” to its banknotes. He added that the $5 bill “will not be retired” and will likely remain in circulation for years.