We shall shortly be seeing some new plastic £5 notes appearing. These notes will be the familiar blue colour and will feature Sir Winston Churchill on the reverse. The notes are made of a waterproof polymer material, or plastic for short, and have various new security features. The Scottish banks will follow shortly with their own plastic notes, although Clydesdale Bank has already made one issue.

It is a little ironic that the man who took us back onto the Gold Standard in 1925 should be the first to appear on a plastic note. The point however is that the plastic note will last longer than paper. It’s nothing to do with us leaving the European Union or anything like that.

Plastic £10 and £20 notes will be issued in the future. Please don’t spend both sides of them at once.