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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Patrick Barkham

‘A toad is a perfect tenner’: experts recommend wild candidates for new banknotes

Common toad (Bufo bufo) sitting on a moss-covered log
Lucy Lapwing: ‘Currency all over the world tends to feature the toad-like faces of male politicians so why not have the real thing?’ Photograph: MikeLane45/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Native British wildlife will feature on the next set of £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes, the Bank of England has announced, but it has yet to be decided which creatures will make the cut.

While politicians from Nigel Farage to Ed Davey have sought to confect outrage about ditching Winston Churchill and Jane Austen for badgers or blackbirds, public consultations by the Bank show that people favour the switch to wildlife. Regularly changing images on the notes is a measure to foil counterfeiters.

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