Does all of our money now have to be changed to have Charles' image on it?

[HappyPeach]

I was just thinking what an enormous cost to do this.

No, of course not! Newly minted coins will have the King's head on but the current ones will still be legal tender.

I remember still getting money such as 5ps with King George's head on it in the 80s

I guess they take them in over time?

I remember this too!

Yes, everyone will have to take any money they own, coins or notes, into a bank by the end of the month to get it swapped.

🙄

No, George vi was still on coins until we changed the sizes - the florin (10p) was used through the 80's

No it doesn't. When I was younger we still had George VI coins acting as 5 and 10p pieces even though they were 1 and 2 shillings.

However I think, but could be wrong, that Charles will face the other way on any new coins minted, as I believe the heads alternate direction with each reign.

Actually I may have misremembered that. I may have actually been playing with old coins at my grandparents house, as surely no coins would have had the King's head on due to decimalisation?

They did. The two shilling coin was legal tender (as 10p) until the new 10p coin came in.

No. New ones printed will have Charles on it. Both are legal tender. Bank of England has confirmed this.
I certainly remember the odd shilling with George VI head on it as a child. Once decimalisation happened (remember that too), I remember old shillings as 10p pieces.

An article I read yesterday suggested that notes may be recalled and reissued (as they have been recently when introducing a new version), but coins will probably just be phased out gradually as new coins are minted.

They will be phased in gradually. I can still remember pennies with Queen Victoria on them. ( the huge ones which bought lots of sweets in the sixties 😆)

Notes have a much shorter 'shelf life' than coins presumably, even with the new plastic ones. Plus every now and then they withdraw notes and change size/design due to forgeries or whatever. I doubt they will withdraw them 'just because'.

I remember coins with Queen Victoria on!

The currency is replaced over time. Decades.

Surely this would be a good time to make these things just 'royal' rather than keep changing things every time we get a new monarch? I am sure that Charles, being so big on climate change etc, would be keen to ensure things are moved to have longevity.

So rather than King or Queen, just monarch. Rather than the specific moment arch of the time pictures of various past monarchs could be used. Rather than QC and KC we could have MC

New coins are minted all the time. Look in your purse, they have a year they were minted on. New ones will have the Kings head, old ones will remain legal tender, presumably until they change the size/design of the coins.

No, because they just switch to using the new image next time things are printed/made.

There is some cost in switching design, but for many things they're updated periodically anyhow for security reasons, so it's probably a programmed cost anyhow (just with an unpredictable date). After all the image used of the late Queen has been updated several times during her reign - that wasn't a waste, this isn't either

I'm guessing they'll also be changing passports and stamps - again 🙄

You make it sound like we're changing every other week!

We've had a Queen for 70 years. All being well the following 3 monarchs will be Kings.

No, we did have the old coins doubling as 5p and 10p pieces and some of them were old enough to have George VI on and possibly even George V.

The only reason they disappeared was because the 5p and 10p coins were made smaller. I guess we'd still have a few around now if not.

It will just happen naturally

I've changed all mine already. Hasn't everyone?