In 2000 to celebrate the Millennium, the Royal Mint in conjunction with the Bank of England released a very special Limited Issue £20 Twenty Pound Banknote and Millennium £5 Five Pound Silver Proof Coin Set to commemorate the New Millennium.
The £20 Twenty Pound Banknote is the first of the Elgar designs and shows a cypher YR20 and a serial number between 000001 and 000394.
The Bank of England have issued this special cypher to mark the beginning of the new Millennium YR20 00 will not be produced for general circulation.
The new £5 Silver Proof Coin
of 2000 celebrates the new millennium and is struck in solid .925 Sterling Silver. The focal point of the design bears a representation of the British Isles with a pair of clock hands highlighted in 22 Carat Gold, pivoted on Greenwich and set at the crucial twelve o'clock, with the important Millennium dates 1999 and 2000 incorporated either side.
The reverse of the coin is the stunning picture of Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank Broadley.
These legal tender coins have been struck to proof quality using specially prepared dies and highly polished blanks.