Bank notes can still be exciting in our increasingly cashless society.
On Wednesday morning, in front of the Bank of England headquarters, a queue — that’s a British line, which is the same as an American line but more orderly — formed, as people walked out with collector’s items: the first bills with King Charles III’s portrait on them.
In the queue were avid coin collectors, people with nostalgic feelings toward the new bank note (the first in their lifetime showing a new monarch) and the odd tourist who happened to need old money changed.
The bank has issued 5, 10, 20 and 50 pound bills with the new designs, which are similar in color scheme to the bills in circulation with Queen Elizabeth II on them. Bills with the Queen’s portrait on them will remain in circulation across the country, alongside the ones with King Charles.
Although Brits are accustomed to seeing the monarch on their money, it wasn’t always the case. The Bank of England began printing bank notes in 1725, but it was not until 1960 that bills featured the monarch. Until that time, Britannia — the personification of Britain — had been the only character on the bills.
The modest but steady line moved along swiftly on Wednesday, with people spending no more than 20 minutes to exchange their money.
Lee O’Brien, who lives in East London, came to the bank on Wednesday to supplement his collection of old notes, as well as to take a peek inside the country’s most famous bank building.
“It’s just the novelty,” he said, adding that he would not spend the 180 pounds (about $230) he was exchanging.
“I had nothing else to do,” said Jonny Blake, another Londoner and a collector, ready to exchange £300 ($383). Mr. Blake said he also had more than £80 ($102) worth of special 50 pence coins featuring King Charles’s likeness, which were issued in 2023.
For Keith McCulloch, farther back in the line, the driving factor was nostalgia. His father was an avid collector, and he said he wanted to honor that tradition.
“I’m looking forward to seeing it,” Mr. McCulloch said of the new money. “It’s a lot different having it in your hand.”
Other people enjoyed the historic nature of the day. Phuong and Nate Powell moved to Britain in 2022 from Northern Virginia, not long before Queen Elizabeth died. They said they were not planning on spending the money they were about to exchange. “It’s more of a collector’s thing,” Ms. Powell said. Like so many others, they did not readily have enough cash on hand and had to make a separate stop to retreive cash to exchange.
Harpal Singh came to London from his home in Northampton, about 70 miles away, on Wednesday morning. “I’ve been collecting since I was a little boy,” he said. He, like many others, had been waiting for the new notes for a long time. But the king, he said, “has waited a lot longer than I have.”
Mr. Singh said he was happy to find the queues manageable and fast at the Bank of England on Wednesday, and walked out of the bank with £300 of fresh new cash.
“It was worth the trip down,” Mr. Singh said.
Most people said they would keep the bills, rather than spend them. Other people said they would save them for their children, hoping the bills would be worth something one day. Others were excited to slip them into collector’s booklets at home.
Spending the notes immediately might have been a bit of a challenge, anyway: Many of the coffee shops and other businesses around the Bank of England are cashless these days.