The Bank of England revealed the final design of its new #50 note featuring Alan Turing on March 25, culminating a growth process that began in 2018.
The polymer note will be put into circulation on June 23 as it joins the already issued Churchill #5, Austen #10, and the Turner #20 notes. When the notes enter flow, all Bank of England bank notes will be accessible in polymer.
The choice of Turing began if the Banknote Character Advisory Committee decided to observe the field of science about the 50 note. This was followed by a six-week public nomination period during which the bank received 227,299 names, covering 989 qualified individuals. The committee believed all of them before choosing a shortlist of 12 which were filed into the bank’s governor for the last decision.
The selection is revolutionary and its importance wasn’t lost on the lender, which flew a rainbow flag during its headquarters on the day of the announcement. Governor Andrew Bailey stated:”There is something of the nature of a country in its money, and we’re right to consider and observe the folks on our banknotes. So I am thrilled that our brand new #50 features one of Britain’s most important scientists, Alan Turing. He was also homosexual, and was treated appallingly as a result. By putting him new polymer #50 banknote, we are celebrating his achievements, and the values he symbolizes.”
Director Jeremy Fleming of GCHQ, one of those three UK Intelligence and Security Agencies, said,”Alan Turing’s look on the 50 notice is a milestone moment in our history. Not only can it be a celebration of his scientific genius that helped shorten the war and affect the tech we still use today, in addition, it confirms his status as one of the most iconic LGBT+ characters on earth. Turing was adopted because of his brilliance and persecuted for being gay. His heritage is a reminder of the value of adopting all facets of diversity, but also the job we need to do to become truly inclusive.”
One of the elements on the notice’s face are: A photo of Turing taken in 1951; dining table and mathematical formulas from Turing’s 1936 paper that is currently regarded as a base of computer science; the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE), one of their first electronic stored-program digital computers; drawings for the British Bombe, that Turing said was among the chief tools used to break Enigma-coded Nazi messages during WWII; a quote from Turing,”This is simply a foretaste of what’s to come, and only the shadow of what will be more”; his signature from a publication currently on display at Bletchley Park; and his birth date (June 23, 1912) in code.
Security features include a metallic hologram which changes involving the words FIFTY and POUNDS once the note is tilted; a see-through window using a gold and green foil on the surface depicting a microchip picture; 2 green 21 spiral attributes based on a citrus mind (connected to his work in developmental biology); a silver foil patch using a 3D image of the coronation crown; the queen’s portrait at the see-through window with printing; a smaller translucent window at the bottom corner of this notice, based on architectural features at Bletchley Park; and a red foil patch comprising the letters AT based on the image of a sunflower head, additionally linked to Turing’s work in developmental biology.