46 million of Australia’s new $50 notes have been printed with a typo, the Reserve Bank has confirmed.
The $50 banknote released last October misspells the word “responsibility.” The note features a portrait of the country’s first female parliamentarian, Edith Cowan, and the error appears in microprint featuring excerpts of her first speech to the Western Australian Parliament.
Australia’s most widely circulated banknote has a typo pic.twitter.com/Y0y8xoU5GA
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) May 9, 2019
The small error occurred on Cowan’s side, in the text of her speech.
“It is a great responsibilty [sic] to be the only woman here, and I want to emphasise the necessity which exists for other women being here,” it says.
New $50 notes still valid
The RBA confirmed the typo on Thursday and said the error would be fixed in future print runs. “[We are] aware of it and the spelling will be corrected at the next print run,” said a spokeswoman.
But for now, around 46 million of the new $50 notes are in use across the country. Nearly 400 million of the notes were printed, with 46 million in use, according to CNN, putting the total value of the currency in circulation at about AU$2.3 billion.
The A$50 note is the most widely circulated in Australia, and the most commonly given out by cash machines. The other side of the note features distinguished Indigenous author David Unaipon.
The new $50 notes also features a host of new technologies designed to improve accessibility and prevent counterfeiting.
According to The Guardian, Australia was the first country to use polymer banknotes, which were invented by the CSIRO and introduced in 1988. Compared with paper notes, polymer has increased durability and security and makes it easier to include features to help those who are vision-impaired.
According to the RBA, updated $5 and $10 notes have already been released, and a new $20 is scheduled for October this year.
And for anyone wondering – yes, the “typo note” is still totally valid as currency.