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Australia

This Could Be the Ugliest Bank Note in the World

By
Jonathan Chew
Jonathan Chew
By
Jonathan Chew
Jonathan Chew
April 12, 2016, 12:55 PM ET
AUSTRALIA-MONEY
In this undated handout photo from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released on April 12, 2016 stacks of new style five Australian dollar note are seen, which will replace its more bland pink, purple and orange predecessor from September 1, 2016. It may be the smallest-denominated banknote for the Australian dollar, but the central bank's new design for the bill attracted an outsized amount of criticism Down Under on April 12, 2016 with detractors describing it as "like vomit" and "hideous". / AFP / STR / XGTY ----EDITORS NOTE ----RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE MANDATORY CREDIT - AFP PHOTO / RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)Photograph by STR—AFP/Getty Images

The Reserve Bank of Australia has just released its updated design of the country’s five dollar note—and Australians are not feeling it.

The note, which will be issued publicly on Sept. 1, features native animals such as the Prickly Moses wattle and a bird called the Eastern Spinebill alongside an image of the Queen, the government announced on Tuesday. The bill also includes a “tactile feature” to help the vision-impaired, and added security features.

Not that anyone in Australia seems to care—because all everyone seems to be commenting on is that the new note could be the ugliest thing man has ever laid eyes on.

Our new fivers look like vomit. pic.twitter.com/PKOJk6t45s

— ☔Jason Murphy (@jasemurphy) April 11, 2016

The new Australian five dollar note is literally the ugliest thing I've ever seen I'm so disappointed

— Kimmm☕️ (@Kimmlyx) April 12, 2016

https://twitter.com/Tcorp_/status/719776699919912961

https://twitter.com/wingrove/status/719707773982744576

https://twitter.com/RanTLaw/status/719664662350958593

@joshgnosis Looks like golden staph germs from a petrie dish. How bad can banknote design be?

— Ben Sandilands (@PlaneTalking) April 11, 2016

But, there is hope—some enterprising folks have taken to redesigning the redesigned Australian five dollar note:

I just spent 5 minutes using the snapchat features on the new five dollar bill. What am I doing with my life. pic.twitter.com/wii1x7NBih

— Hannah Scott (@HannahRScott) April 12, 2016

GUYS I FIXED THE NEW FIVE DOLLAR NOTE! pic.twitter.com/UufE3wDzLt

— Dylab Nehan (@dylabolical) April 12, 2016

@TripleMSydney

New $5 note released. ……very Australian! pic.twitter.com/pFm72ikJoP

— Shane Burns (@ShaneCBurns) April 12, 2016

https://t.co/EhV62HoR1b the new $5 note is here! #dollarydoospic.twitter.com/DXWg7ziWkk

— Cassandra Warn (@CassieWarnPAW) April 12, 2016

If this Australian note goes into circulation, it could join an illustrious list of strange currency notes that have passed through our hands, including the 500,000,000,000 Yugoslavian dinara, the quite inconvenient legal paper-sized 100,000-Filipino peso note, and the hole-in-a-note currency from Zaire.

About the Author
By Jonathan Chew
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