The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) confirmed on Thursday that it had spelled “responsibility” as “responsibilty” on 46 million of its latest 50 Australian dollar ($35) notes, adding that the error would be corrected in the next print run later this year.
The RBA acknowledged the mistake after the Melbourne-based Triple M radio station posted on its Instagram page a magnified photograph of a 50 Australian dollar note which showed the microscopic misspelling of “responsibility” appearing three times on the note, with the third “i” omitted every time.
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While some Twitter users reacted sarcastically to the news, describing it as “funny” and “hilarious”, others claimed that all this is “proof of how irresponsible Australian Bank can be” and that “someone has to take responsibility”.
that’s not very responsible
— marianaaa ☁️ (@imposssibles) 9 мая 2019 г.
Someone has to take respoonsibilty #australia
— houndgrogday (@minuteisalongti) 9 мая 2019 г.
Proof of how irresponsible Australian Bank can be.
— Ajit Sreedhar Rao (@SreedharAjit) 9 мая 2019 г.
Omg haha it’s too funny! The best part is some anonymous guy with a magnifying glass discovered it and rang radio stations to tell them haha. So weird — weirder than physie
— Miranda J Drew (@mirandajdrew) 9 мая 2019 г.
Not when you turn it upside down pic.twitter.com/NmavuCtVGe
— Quetzal (@TyotoRiffle) 9 мая 2019 г.
— Aileen Fernandez (@AileenF23) 9 мая 2019 г.
Hahah, hilarious 🤣
— Iffat Rana (@IffatRana8) 9 мая 2019 г.
Wonderfool! 😂
— Bonface W. PDG de 🇧🇷 (@bswitaba) 9 мая 2019 г.
One netizen argued that “this is a sad reflection on today’s world”, adding that “most people can’t spell without using predictive text”.
I blame the teachers. Half of them can't even add up or spell.
— Simon Coad (@SimonRCoad) 9 мая 2019 г.
This is a sad reflection on today’s world. Most people can’t spell without using predictive text.
— AVM (@AVM_dr_) 9 мая 2019 г.
Literacy is not their claim to fame, obviously.
— Linda Ferris (@Pinky_Pages) 9 мая 2019 г.
Was that accidental? Such things have for centuries have been used as anti-counterfeiting measures.
— okron (@okron8) 9 мая 2019 г.
Not surprising. Australia never took responsibility for what they did to the native population.
— HT Zhang (@WZH100) 9 мая 2019 г.
Spelling??
— Glen Kiltz (@gkiltzVA) 9 мая 2019 г.
Do they teach that in Australia?
Those who found this tiny error should face police scrutiny. How on earth could they detect such error unless they were planning to make forged money 😂
— Selamta (@Selamta4) 9 мая 2019 г.
Another user went further by claiming that “those who found this tiny error should face police scrutiny” because “how on earth could they detect such error unless they were planning to make forged money”.
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The 50 Australian dollar note features Edith Cowan, the first female member of an Australian parliament and a quote from her first speech to MPs.
“It is a great responsibility to be the only woman here, and I want to emphasise the necessity which exists for other women being here," is repeated several times over in microscopic print”, the quote reads.
The banknote is the most widely circulated and most commonly given out by cash machines across Australia.
