New £20 note to feature JMW Turner and Margate's Turner Contemporary

PUBLISHED: 11:42 10 October 2019 | UPDATED: 11:42 10 October 2019

New £20 note featuring painter JMW Turner (photo: Bank of England)

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Unveiled at the Turner Contemporary on 10th October, the new note will match the polymer £10 and £5 notes

Unveiled by Mark Carney, Governer of the Bank of England, in a ceremony at Margate's Turner Contemporary art gallery, the brand new £20 note is due to be issued on 20th February 2020.

Carney explained: "Our banknotes celebrate the UK's heritage, salute its culture, and testify to the achievements of its most notable individuals. And so it is with the new £20 banknote, featuring JMW Turner, launched today at Turner Contemporary in Margate. Turner's contribution to art extends well beyond his favourite stretch of shoreline. Turner's painting was transformative, his influence spanned lifetimes, and his legacy endures today. The new £20 note celebrates Turner, his art and his legacy in all their radiant, colourful, evocative glory."

Margate's Turner Contemporary gallery and iconic lighthouse feature in a transparent window on the note along with the revered painter who paid many visits to Margate during his life.

Margate has been through a period of regeneration with the opening of the Turner Contemporary in 2011 and refurbishment of the theme park Dreamland which have injected millions of pounds into the Kent economy following a decline in visitors after the arrival of cheap foreign holidays during the 70s.

The polymer material not only makes the notes hard to counterfeit but they are far more durable than paper bank notes which means they are hard to damage or tear and can last in circulation far longer than previous notes.