The new £10 note is here and it's "fantastic" for blind and visually impaired people

Sam_Alumni

The new £10 note featuring novelist Jane Austen has entered circulation, it's made of polymer and includes raised dots similar to braille characters on the left hand side of the note and fine raised lines on the right.

It replaces the paper £10 note, which will still be accepted in the shops until Spring 2018. The exact date of withdrawal will be published three months in advance.

Ian Morris, who volunteers for the charity Guide Dogs, and is blind, tested the new plastic £10 note at its unveiling on Tuesday.

“It’s a fantastic invention; absolutely superb,” Mr Morris told The Independent.

"The difference is night and day between the old paper notes and the new plastic ones. From a blind person perspective, you couldn’t really tell the difference between an old £10 and a £20.

You had more chance with the five. Now with the new plastic five, that feels completely different, and with this new £10 with the tactile features, effectively that’s 5 ten and twenty, with completely different textures. It’s a massive leap forward."

What do you think? Let us know now.

Blue Frog

Brilliant idea. It will be interesting to hear how people with visual impairments get on with them. 

I do feel slightly for people who struggle with change (haha I know that could be a bad pun!) but in the last year £1, £5 and now £10's are different and that could be hard to get used to if you have a cognitive disability or autism. 

Has anyone had one yet?