The Bank of England has announced that it will introduce a new 50-pound banknote on 23 June 2021, the birthday of Alan Turing, the mathematician depicted on the back of the note which completes the transition from paper to polymer substrates on all denominations.
I hope it will be actually used. I tried to use 50-pound notes in the UK as a tourist and it has been really hard to have them accepted in shops. In the end I decided to change them in a bank, but it wasn’t easy to find one wanting to help me because I didn’t have a bank account in the UK…
The same thing might happen in the euro area with 500-euro notes, but 50£ have a much lower value…
I must say I’m surprised to see your comment. Last time I went to London I normally used 50s on several occasions, they were received with no problem. However, it is true 500 euro note is not going to be issued anymore, for now it shall remain to be legal tender until ECB decides to withdraw it from the system. It won’t be upgraded with the rest of the euro note family.
I forgot to add, last time I visited London was in 2017