Weird World

The petition for Coldwar Steve to design the new £50 note is so 2018

Oonagh Keating. Updated October 17th, 2018

Instead of scrapping it, as planned, the government is introducing a new £50 note – one of those plastic ones that vegans don’t like, that shrinks if it accidentally goes through a boil wash. There’s been a lot of debate around who should appear on the reverse, but now there’s an exciting new suggestion – not about who should feature on the note, but who should design it.

As artists go, Twitter satirical collage king, @Coldwar_Steve – Christopher Spencer, in real life – is certainly an unusual choice, but would definitely bring a fresh look to the £50 note, which will probably be used to buy a loaf after Brexit.

The petition, started by Andy Gilderdale, makes its case eloquently.

We all know the traditional look of a banknote, right?

Queen on one side, some dead person nobody really ever bothers looking at on the other. Dull, isn’t it?

What the new £50 note needs is something different. A new, modern outlook for the new era when we’ll all need one just to buy a loaf of bread or a pint of milk.

Step forward, Coldwar Steve (@Coldwar_Steve on Twitter). The Banksy of photo montages, except these don’t cost you a million quid then shred themselves. Why shouldn’t Her Majesty be surrounded by a sea of familiar faces on our currency? Isn’t it time we honoured fabulous entertainers like Cilla Black, Gregg Wallace and Steve McFadden with their rightful place alongside our monarch?

Sign the petition now, let’s take the UK forward together hand in hand with Kim Jong Un and Sam Allardyce.

YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE!

It has a modest goal of 500 signatures, with 290 achieved in 24 hours, so hopefully it can meet that target.

We have to wonder what image might @Coldwar_Steve choose for such a prestigious commission, so here are some of his previous works to show how it might look.

So, how does @Coldwar_Steve feel about the idea? Well, he said this.

He’s going to be a busy man.