Strewth! Spelling blunder on 400m Aussie banknotes
MOST of us probably don’t have a banknote in our hands long enough to examine it carefully.
That may be the reason why a spelling mistake has just been discovered on Australia’s new 50 dollar note – seven months after it went into circulation.
An eagle-eyed caller to a radio station pointed out that the word ‘responsibility’ was misspelt as ‘responsibilty’ three times in tiny lettering used on the polymer notes to deter counterfeiters. The lettering, designed to resemble a lawn, appears above the shoulder of a portrait of social reformer edith Cowan, Australia’s first woman parliamentarian, on the reverse side of the note.
It quotes a speech Mrs Cowan made to the Western Australian parliament in 1921: ‘It is a great responsibility to be the only woman here.’
The Reserve Bank of Australia admitted more than 400million of the notes, each worth around £26, have been printed since they were introduced in October. It said the spelling will be corrected for the next print run.
Rare currency dealer Jim Noble said notes with the misprint will not be worth more as there are millions.
‘That’s a very embarrassing error,’ he said. ‘The buck stops with those who are producing it. It’s a joke for Australia.’