The new face of the £50 note has been revealed. 


Computer pioneer and code breaker Alan Turing will feature on the Bank of England's £50 note. 
Turing was chosen following the bank’s character selection process, including advice from scientific experts.


In 2018, the Banknote Character Advisory Committee chose to celebrate the field of science on the £50 note and this was followed by a six week public nomination period.

The bank received a total of 227,299 nominations, covering 989 eligible characters. The committee considered all the nominations before deciding on a shortlist of 12 options, which were put to the Governor for him to make the final decision. 


The shortlisted options considered included Lyme Regis palaeontologist Mary Anning, as well as Paul Dirac, Rosalind Franklin, William Herschel and Caroline Herschel, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, Stephen Hawking, James Clerk Maxwell, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Ernest Rutherford and Frederick Sanger. 


Making the announcement at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, the Governor also revealed the imagery depicting Alan Turing and his work that will be used for the reverse of the note. The new polymer £50 note is expected to enter circulation by the end of 2021.


Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, said: “Alan Turing was an outstanding mathematician whose work has had an enormous impact on how we live today. As the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, as well as war hero, Alan Turing’s contributions were far ranging and path breaking. Turing is a giant on whose shoulders so many now stand.” 


Alan Turing provided the theoretical underpinnings for the modern computer. While best known for his work devising code-breaking machines during the Second World War. Turing played a pivotal role in the development of early computers first at the National Physical Laboratory and later at the University of Manchester. 


Sarah John, chief cashier, said: “The strength of the shortlist is testament to the UK’s incredible scientific contribution. The breadth of individuals and achievements reflects the huge range of nominations we received for this note and I would to thank the public for all their suggestions of scientists we could celebrate.”