Millions of $50 notes contain a huge blunder–Do you have them too?

It's not every day you look closely at your notes and expect to find a blunder.

However, it seems that millions of Australian $50 banknotes have been carrying a little typo that might have eluded the eyes of the general public for quite some time.

Believe it or not, these notes could still be in your wallet!



The blunder lies in the misspelling of the word 'responsibility', which appears as 'responsibilty' on the note.

This error is not just a one-off but is repeated three times on the note as part of a speech by Australia's first female parliamentarian, Edith Cowan, whose portrait graces the note.


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The $50 note mistake has been in circulation for years already. Credit: @bozdee and @masmic2 / Reddit


The speech, which is a significant part of Australia's political history, reads: 'I stand here today in the unique position of being the first woman in an Australian parliament.’

‘It is a great responsibility.' The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), responsible for the printing and circulation of the notes, was made aware of the error in 2018.

A spokesperson for the RBA stated that the spelling mistake would be corrected in the next print run.

They added, ‘We are not withdrawing or recalling banknotes with the spelling error. They will remain in circulation until they reach their normal end-of-life.’



Despite the widespread distribution of these notes, rare currency dealer Jim Noble clarified that the misprint would not increase their value, given the sheer number of them in circulation.

'That's a very embarrassing error,' Noble commented.

'The buck stops with those who are producing it. It's a joke for Australia.'

However, some of these errors may actually be worth more than you think!

A rare misprinted batch of ‘Mob of Roos’ $1 coin from 2005–whose blank planchet was accidentally fed 2-3 cm off-centre–can be valued between $300 and $3000 online, depending on its condition.

Also, a 2-cent coin showcases a frilled-neck lizard design created by the famous Australian artist and metalworker Stuart Devlin.

Devlin’s signature, represented by the initials ‘SD’, can be found underneath the lizard’s belly on most of these coins. But a number of these coins lack his initials. These 2-cent coins were priced as high as $499.99 on eBay.
Key Takeaways
  • An embarrassing spelling error was found on Australia's $50 notes, with 'responsibility' misspelled as 'responsibilty'.
  • The mistake is part of the microprint featuring a speech by Australia's first female parliamentarian, Edith Cowan, and appears three times on the note.
  • Despite being aware of the error since 2018, the Reserve Bank of Australia has chosen not to recall the notes, stating they will remain in circulation until they reach their end-of-life.
  • A rare currency dealer has stated that the notes with the error are unlikely to be worth more since there are millions in circulation, and the error is considered to be an embarrassing oversight.
Have you come across one of these $50 notes? Share your experiences in the comments below!
 
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Old news. Well publicised quite a few years ago. Why all of a sudden is it mentioned again? Equally, saying something is worth xyz dollars is fine, but you need to find someone that will pay not just put a price on it and see if there's a FOMO willing to pay.
 
I got out my strongest magnifying glass and then only just make out the words! Who has ever bothered to read that part of the note. OMG some people have very little to do.
 
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Maybe that was the way she pronounced it, wouldn't surprise me, like the way so many people say pacific instead of specific (especially tv newsreaders but not so much nowadays). OMG , it's so long since I saw a $50 note anyway, like others here I tend to card everything and carry just one each of $20 and $10 notes in my wallet for contingencies. WOW how great it would be to have one of those little yellow notes sitting there also just waiting for that proverbial rainy day.
 
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AND Newspapers - the mind boggles!
These journalists were probably taught by teachers like my daughter had in yr 2. She admitted she couldn’t spell, then had the nerve to try and correct my daughter’s words. Most of the words she tried to correct were the right spelling, teacher crossed them out and wrote the incorrect spelling above them. I ended up telling her not to correct any of my daughter’s words as I was sick of having to recorrect her words and my daughter was just being confused by her incorrect spelling of words my daughter already had correct. Then there were years where kids were encouraged to write words as they sounded and the teachers didn’t correct any mistakes. No wonder so many people can’t spell.
 
I always use cash but have never thought to check the $50.00 notes, will be doing so in the future and I'll be going through my collection of 2 cent pieces as well.
 
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spell check works wonders. HUH. Does anyone else notice the headline mistakes on the tv? varied and many.
Oh yes, those errors on TV are ever so many, and every day, because it is either the person putting the words up that is somewhat illiterate or just sloppy and does not go over their work before producing it.

Then there is the mispronunciation of so many words and the wrong words being used, and used in the wrong place, - e.g. bought for brought, there instead of their, and the list goes on and on. Our kids and grandchildren are being sent to school to learn the right way to say, spell and use the correct words but so many teachers are also not very well educated in the English language or just do not care. We are following like sheep making everything sound so Americanised, and we are not Americans.

Since when has ‘schedule’ (pronounced correctly as ‘shed-ule) been pronounced as ‘sked-ule’? That is just plain sloppiness in speech and it’s about time we started picking ourselves up and speaking and writing correctly.
 
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Probably would be wise to carry a lot more than 10 or 20 cash these days....bank, ATM problems and internet outages can stop you from paying for things, but having cash in the wallet will alleviate all that. Most of the time I have around $250 cash at hand, just in case.
 
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