Changing bank note designs

I was pondering ...over time, what might all this impact be upon London Cockney rhyming slang for monetary denominations.  There are traditionally a large number of them - below are just a few examples:

One - Quid, Nicker

Five - Lady; Deep Sea Diver

Ten - Ayrton

Fifteen - Commodore

Twenty - Score; Bobby Moore

Twenty-five - Pony

Fifty - Bullseye

One Hundred - Ton

Five Hundred - Monkey

One Thousand - Grand; Bag

Will we need to start muttering about well loved nicknames for UK wildlife - I am envisaging bidding to pay things like "tiggy", or "hotchiwitchi", or "fricandeau de veau" ...for something purchased in a market place if the Summer's consultation sees a hedgehog in pride of place on one of the new denomination notes!

www.bankofengland.co.uk/.../wildlife-feature-on-next-series-of-banknotes

I would like to see a very small image of Farage superimposed by a very large badger.

Agreed!

(I’m sorry, it’s a joke for those of you that don’t know me well. Please don’t hurt me lol)

Since y’all can’t come to an agreement on what to put on them, may I suggest something we can all agree is really important to the UK?

Donald Trump.

I rarely have banknotes as I use a debit card for most purchases. But, no, I don't mind. A few more inventors and creatives would be interesting, but also definitely British wildlife and wildflowers. Or ordinary people, who've done good things for the community - we've never had anything like that, as far as I can remember.

It is daft, but thn he, like many far right politicians are very thin skinned and seem to see any changes as a threat, except the ones he wants to make of course.

Given reforms wish to roll back the clock on so many things, maybe he's afraid that if people start liking badgers and other wildlife even more than they do now, they won't want to bring back badger baiting and other blood sports.

Yes, that's a proper little treasure - your 1951 Irish shilling with the bull on one side and the harp on the other. Spot on about the size: it's 23.6 mm across, basically identical to the current UK 10p (24.5 mm), so yeah, it'd feel right in your pocket even now.

As for those river gods on the old notes... the rumour's fun, but it's mostly myth - the faces were based on Dublin's Custom House keystones, and yeah, the higher the note, the more "uplifted" they look. Like the 10-shilling one: stern, almost grumpy.

While the big £50? Well, he's grinning like he's won the lotto - cheeky sod.

Irish coins, pre-Euro, had animals on them on one side, the other had a harp. The 1 shilling (5p) had a bull and a florin (10p) a salmon. Early Irish paper money had a personification of the rivers of Ireland, in the form of a Greco-Roman river god taken from a sculpted keystone on an arch in Dublin. Rumour has it that the expression on the river god's face went from dour to laughing as the value of the note increased (from 10 shilling to £50).

I have a 1951 Irish shilling, bull, coin I got a while ago in change, I think it is the same size as a modern UK 10p.

Yeah, the banknote drama's been wild - every decade it's like "who's the new face?" and suddenly everyone's an expert on symbolism. Wildlife winning the vote? Honestly, makes sense. Humans get boring after a while - Churchill's great, but a badger? That's got charm. And yeah, Farage calling it "woke nonsense" is peak predictable - he'd probably say a fox is too "cunning" or something.

Churchill's granddaughter being chill about it? That's classy. No drama, just "it was always temporary." The "no women" complaint... lol, you're right - female badgers, otters, or whatever don't count to them because they can't be "woke" enough.

I'd love an oak tree too - those things are legends: ancient, tough, home to everything from bugs to birds. Put one on the £20, maybe with a little acorn detail. Red squirrels? Perfect - cute, endangered, Scottish vibe if you want. Wildcats would be ace - fierce, rare, proper Highland energy.

Me? I'd go for a puffin on the fiver - those clowns of the sea, bright beaks, cliff-dwellers, total British icon without the politics. Or a hedgehog—spiky, nocturnal, everyone's childhood hero.

No real issue with changes - notes aren't sacred. They evolve like everything else. If wildlife gets us thinking about nature instead of dead politicians, I'm in. Just don't make 'em plastic again - paper's better for the planet.

What do you reckon - should they do a whole "British beasts" series? Or keep one human for tradition?

Love the idea of Farage being threatened by a badger  

Cinnabar_wing said:

He can go *******. (Insert whatever comes to mind.)

..down a very deep hole from which there is no escape....

Love your suggestions of the Red Squirrel and the Oak tree. Terrific

It's just an excuse for the far right to claim something as being woke, when it isn't, it's a cyclical change. He can go *******. (Insert whatever comes to mind.)

In Scotland, banks print their own notes, and there are some lovely ones. The Royal has featured wildlife for a while, with mackerel, otters, red squirrels, osprey, plus a poem of the animal too. They are my favourite bank notes. 

Bank of Scotland has bridges, like the Forth Rail Bridge and the Glenfinnan viaduct (the one that features in the harry potter films).  They are pretty cool too. The Clydebank has famous Scots on theirs.

I agree Scottish wildcats wood be fun to see, a Welsh polecat perhaps? Birds of prey like a kestrel? A ringlet butterfly? A wild orchid would be cool too. Oh or a minor bee? I mean I could go on all day.

TheCatWoman said:

I saw an interview with Churchills grand daughter who said the family were asked before his image was used and were told it would be for 10 years and they had no problem with it changing

I saw her being interviewed too. Clearly it wasn’t an issue.

It’s funny that Farage feels threatened by a badger.