Kelpies and Falkirk Wheel feature on new £50 note design

A new £50 note featuring the Falkirk Wheel and The Kelpies sculpture has been unveiled by the Bank of Scotland.

The new note, which has changed in colour from the traditional green to red, is part of the bridge series and features the world’s first and only rotating boat lift.

The two 300-tonne sculptures of the shape-shifting Kelpies, also located in Falkirk, have been added to the note to celebrate the contribution of horses to the history of Scotland.

A UV feature depicting a horse pulling a canal barge also features on the note, representing one of the ways horses shaped the geographical layout of Falkirk.

Bank of Scotland’s new £50 notes feature the poem Steam Barge by William Muir, written after he saw the newly-invented steam boat passing through Scotland’s Grand Canal.

The front of the new note also portrays the Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott, alongside the image of The Mound in Edinburgh.

Security features of the new £50 note include an anti-counterfeit ‘window effect’ – transparent windows within The Mound frontage and a transparent vertical stripe – on the front of the note.

Inside the vertical stripe is a holographic foil strip which displays the Prosperity statue on top of The Mound, the bank’s logo, and ’£50.’

The foil also displays a Northern Lights effect, with stars and colours resembling the phenomena appearing when the note is tilted.

In addition, as with the £10 and £20 polymer notes, the £50 note will have a tactile emboss feature, to aid the visually impaired.

The new note will enter circulation on July 1 later this year.

Philip Grant, chairman of the Scottish Executive Committee, Bank of Scotland, said: “Bank of Scotland has issued bank notes showcasing our country’s rich history for more than 320 years.

“Our new £50 note, with its images of the majestic Kelpies, the Falkirk Wheel and a poem by William Muir, celebrates the greatness of Scottish culture and engineering achievement.

“I am very proud to be a signatory on the note, in my role as Treasurer of Bank of Scotland.”

On June 30, Bank of Scotland will auction 92 notes containing the most sought after serial numbers with the AA pre-fix.

A further two notes will be auctioned with the offer for a personalised serial number, with all proceeds going to Mental Health UK.