LONDON - The new design of Britain's most common, and most forged, banknote has been unveiled by the Bank of England.
Security features on the next £20 note, featuring artist JMW Turner, will include two see-through windows on the note and a metallic hologram.
In the first half this year, 88% of detected banknote forgeries were £20 notes, the Bank's statistics show.
The new design, which the Bank describes as its most secure, enters circulation on 20 February next year.
Why is the £20 note important?
The most commonly circulating banknote in Britain is the £20 note, with two billion of them in the system.
That is double the number of £10 notes in circulation, and far greater than the number of £5 notes (396 million) and £50 notes (344 million).
The popularity of the note is part of the reason for it also being the most likely to be forged.
The Bank discovered 228,000 counterfeit banknotes in the first half of the year, of which 201,000 were £20 notes.
It has easily been the most commonly forged Bank of England banknote in each of the past 10 years.(FA)