It’s been an entire month since I last mentioned Jane Austen and British currency in the same breath, so clearly it’s time for an update on the forthcoming release of the Jane Austen £10 note.
Luckily, the Hull Daily Mail is on the case, recently posting a rundown on what we do and don’t know about the new bill, which will feature a picture of Our Jane, a Pride and Prejudice quote and a few other Austen-ish flourishes.
The biggest mystery: when, precisely, the new notes will come into circulation. Word is that it will be sometime this summer, and were I a betting woman, I’d put my money on July 18, the bicentenary of Austen’s death.
Meanwhile, still no further developments in the year’s other Austen-currency story: the whereabouts of the two still-missing £5 notes embellished with a prominent artist’s tiny, barely visible Austen portraits.