The Bank of England revealed the new £10 polymer note in Winchester yesterday, marking 200 years since the death of author Jane Austen who appears on the new tenner.
When the note circulates in September it will be the only note which features a woman, apart from the Queen, since the replacement of the old £5 note.
The old £5 note featured prison reformer Elizabeth Fry, but Sir Winston Churchill took her place when the polymer fiver entered circulation.
The new £10 note features a picture of Jane Austen and a quote which reads “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”
The quote was taken from Jane Austen’s book Pride and Prejudice.
The change to polymer has sparked controversy after the Bank confirmed that an “extremely small amount” of animal fat is used to produce the polymer notes.
Activists and religious groups have been pushing for sustainable, plant-based alternatives and have accused the central bank of forcing unethical products on the public.
The Bank has held off signing supply contracts for the polymer £20 note, so they can explore the suggested plant-based substitutes.
The new £20 note is due to be released in 2020.
Despite this the Bank has said it would keep the £5 in circulation and issue the £10 as planned, due to it being too costly to destroy and reprint the notes.
It has cost the bank £46million to print the £5 note and £24 million to print the £10 note.
Reprinting those notes using new materials would mean incurring those costs again, while the destruction of those notes would cost a further £50,000, the Bank said.
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