Although new banknotes with King Charles III’s picture on them are currently in circulation, it might take some time before they are commonly found in wallets and purses.
When demand rises, fresh Bank of England notes will be printed to gradually replace any damaged ones.
Queen Elizabeth II debuted on these notes in 1960, making the King the second monarch to do so.
Customers may still use the current £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes featuring the late Queen’s portrait.
Current polymer Bank of England banknotes still have the same image on the back, which has Sir Winston Churchill, Jane Austen, JMW Turner, and Alan Turing in increasing order.
Other images can be seen on notes produced in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Due to the lengthy lead-in time, automatic currency acceptor equipment was able to be updated to detect the new designs when the first new banknotes were manufactured last year. The image used to create the King’s portrait was shot in 2013.
The BBC was granted unique access to the extremely secure location where the notes were created in April of last year.
Following the custom of the monarch receiving the first issuance of new banknotes, the King received a whole set with the lowest serial numbers a year later.
Banknotes that closely resemble the 00001 serial number are sought after by collectors.
Now, fifty of them have banking hubs, which are shared locations frequently managed by the Post Office and offer cash withdrawal and deposit services to customers of all banks.
Community staff from several banks also make weekly visits to these hubs.
One of the most peculiar is located in Cornwall’s port town of Looe, a county with close ties to King Charles.