The Reserve Bank of Australia has revealed the new design of the $50 note. The design has been revamped and now has upgraded security features along with making it easier for the visually impaired to use it.
The yellow color of the note has been maintained giving it the nickname of “pineapple”. However, the design has been made such that the currency is easier to be used by the visually impaired by providing four bumps on the top right corner. The security elements included in the new note design include a top-to-bottom clear window with dynamic features such as a reversing number and flying bird, as well as a patch with a rolling color effect and microprint featuring excerpts from Unaipon’s book Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines and Cowan’s maiden parliamentary speech. The Reserve Bank of Australia shall be releasing the currency in the month of October this year.
See the specimen design of the note below
Source: News.com.au
The RBA is currently dealing with machine requirements to incorporate the new design, teething issues etc… The upgrading of machines by different operators will also be playing an important role in the rollout. For example, the $5 note that was released in September of 2016 has only reached 55 percent popularity.
There is also going to be new designs for $5 and $10 notes. The $20 note will also be updated this year and be released in October 2019, with the $100 note to come out in late 2020. The parts of the currency that remain the same as before are the ‘pineapple’ features portraits of David Unaipon, an inventor, and Australia’s first published Aboriginal author, and Edith Cowan, the first female member of an Australian parliament.
