LONDON — Britain’s new five-pound note features the image of World War II leader Winston Churchill — and comes with a promise that it can stand up to all his favorite things.
That means the new polymer notes can survive a splash of Claret, a flick of cigar ash and the nip of a bulldog.
Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney unveiled the full new design of the note Thursday at Churchill’s birthplace in Oxfordshire. The new fiver will be printed on polymer, a thin flexible plastic film.
The current note features prison reformer Elizabeth Fry. When the new design was announced in 2013, an outcry followed because no woman would appear on Britain’s cash aside from that of Queen Elizabeth II.
Novelist Jane Austen was later chosen for the 10-pound note.
