Secure by Design – the Boulton and Watt £50 Note Exhibition

As the Bank of England launched the new £50 note last month, tying in with the new-style bill enjoying its circulation within the UK is an exhibition exploring the design and security features of the new fifty.

Taking place at the Bank of England Museum – and housed within the secure walls of the Bank of England – “Secure by Design” invites you to delve into the evolution of the £50 notes from its issuing into the UK in 1725, to early examples of forgery. On display for the first time ever are 19th century £5 notes that were forged by those daring enough to risk facing the death penalty.

Also featuring in the exhibition is the earliest known Bank of England £50 note dated 1732 and the chance to examine the new design – the first new £50 note for 17 years. Get up close and personal with the complex design details with the help of a powerful microscope camera, including the advanced new motion thread carefully woven into the paper.

Open to the public free of charge and suitable for all ages; children who successfully answer three questions about the new note will unravel a secret code with the exciting chance of opening a safe bearing a prize.

Secure by Design – the Boulton and Watt £50 runs until March 23 2012.

For more information visit: www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum