Market News

CARLISLE Business Crime Awareness group is urging people to look out for fake bank notes which it says have been circulating in Carlisle this week.

A £20 note was also tendered in Penrith town centre on Monday, but the business was able to spot the counterfeit.

This comes after a message from South Lakes Police last month, who reported that fake £20 notes were used in a small business and charity shop in Kendal.

Cumbria Safer Business Partnership are members of the Bank of England Note Checking Scheme. They have stickers available for any business that may want one which say ‘all notes are checked’.

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The Bank of England has put together a guide on how to tell if a bank note is genuine by focusing on two key security features.

Hologram image change

On the bottom of the note should be a hologram, when you tilt the note from side to side, the words will change between the value of the note, ‘five’ and ‘pounds’.

Within the two gold foil squares on the front of the £50 note, the images change between ‘50’ and a ‘£’ symbol when the note is tilted.

See-through window

On the metallic image over the see-through window, the foil should be silver on the back of all notes. On the front of the £5 and £10 it should be gold, gold and blue on the front of the £20 and gold and green on the front of the £50.

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£5 note security features

Other security features on the £5 note include a circular, green foil patch containing the word ‘BLENHEIM’. This is on the back of the note, directly behind the silver crown.

£10 note security features

There should be a silver foil patch which contains a 3D image of the coronation crown, above the see-through window on the front of the note. There should also be a portrait of King Charles III or Queen Elizabeth II printed on the window with ‘£10 Bank of England’ printed twice around the edge.

£20 note security features 

The £20 note has a round, purple foil patch which should contain the letter ‘T’. This is on the back of the note, directly behind the silver crown. On the front of the note, you should also be able to feel raised print on the words ‘Bank of England’ and in the bottom right corner.