New Australian $5 Bill Design Sparks the Latest Controversial Currency Flap
Critics have called the new Australian bank note "clown puke."
— -- A lot of internet users are not loving the changes to Australia's $5 bank note.
"The Queen looks like she is contemplating how to get off that abomination of a bank note," one Twitter user wrote. The Reserve Bank of Australia released on Tuesday images of the new bill that will circulate starting Sept. 1. Along with new security features, each banknote in the new series features different species of the national flower, the Australian wattle, and a native bird. The $5 bill depicts a Prickly Moses wattle and the Eastern Spinebill.
Critics have expressed a distaste for the multi-colored note -- one even going so far as to call it "clown puke."
Another reason critics are bashing the bill is the inclusion of Queen Elizabeth II, who was featured on the bill's previous design. Though a 1999 referendum to leave the monarchy failed, some Australians argue for a republic.
Here are some other examples of controversial currencies:
100-trillion-dollar bill
During a period of hyper-inflation, Zimbabwe introduced a 100-trillion-dollar bill, its highest denomination ever, though at one point it couldn't even buy bus fare. It circulated for just a few months before the country abandoned the Zimbabwe dollar in 2009.
Last year, Zimbabwe began a “demonetization” program to move the bill and others out of circulation.
50,000 Lebanese pounds bill
One commentator called the limited edition Lebanese pounds bill an "epic fail" when it was introduced three years ago. A typo showed the French word "indépendance" misspelled as "indépendence." The bill commemorated the 70 years since Lebanon's independence, but critics pointed out that the 70 is more visible than the 50,000 figure that shows its denomination. A new bill was issued last year.
1000 Dutch guilder
Though the old Dutch guilders are revered by some, the note was somewhat controversial in part because Dutch artist Robert Deodaat Emile Oxenaar had added hidden personal touches.
"On the 1000 guilder note, it became a 'sport' for me to put things in the notes that nobody wanted there," he told the British design magazine Creative Review. "I was very proud to have my fingerprint in this note -- and it's my middle finger! It was too late when they found out and though the director saw it he said he wouldn’t stop the whole production."
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