After the new £5 note with Winston Churchill, a new £10 pound note has been introduced in the UK, featuring Jane Austen – the first female author to appear on a banknote – on the 200th anniversary of her death. On the note there is a portrait of her, and a picture of one of her most cherished characters: Elizabeth Bennet, from Pride and Prejudice, and a quote from that novel: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”
This was announced by the Bank of England in the place where she was buried, Winchester Cathedral. It was first used on the 14th September 2017. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, explained why Jane Austen was chosen: “Our banknotes serve as repositories of the country’s collective memory, promoting awareness of the United Kingdom’s glorious history and highlighting the contributions of its greatest citizens. Austen’s novels have a universal appeal and speak as powerfully today as they did when they were first published.” He also says that he hopes that the choice of featuring a women on their note helps redress the accusations of sexism for not choosing a women previously.
The new design of the note is more practical 
than the previous ones. It is printed in polymer so that it is clean, safe and strong. It also has a feature for the visually impaired, so that they can touch the raised dots in the top left-hand corner and realise which note it is. The bank is trying to be as inclusive as possible. It is improved not only because it is waterproof, but also because it is very difficult to counterfeit. It is stronger, and it should last two and a half times longer than the paper notes.
This and the Winston Churchill£5 note are the only notes made of polymer. However, the bank announced that in 2020 a £20 note featuring Romantic painter JMW Turner will come out.
The sum of £10 is symbolic for Jane Austen because it was half of the annual allowance from her father when he was alive and the amount of money that was paid to her by the publisher for her first book Susan.