Around 46 million of Australia’s new $50 notes have been printed and circulated with a typo, the country’s Reserve Bank has admitted.
The blunder was pointed out publicly on Thursday, when a listener to Triple M radio sent a magnified photo of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) new note, highlighting the misspelling of "responsibility".
The word was written without the final “i” three times, with it reading "responsibilty".
The $50 carries a head shot of Indigenous writer and inventor David Unaipon on one side, and Edith Cowan, Australia’s first female member of parliament, on the other.
The typo on the note appears in an excerpt of Cowan's first ever speech to Western Australia's parliament.
The featured quote reads: "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."
The $50 is Australia's most widely circulated note, accounting for nearly half the total value of all other banknotes in use, according to the RBA.
The “new and improved” note was rolled out in October 2018, boasting a range of advanced features designed to prevent counterfeiting and improve accessibility for the visually impaired.
The RBA said it was aware of the error and would be correcting the spelling “at the next print run”, but stressed that the current notes should still be accepted as legal tender.
"These banknotes are legal tender and can continue to be used as normal," a spokeswoman for the central bank told news agency Reuters in an emailed statement.
"It does not affect their validity or functionality in any way and we will correct the spelling during the next print run.
