The Reserve Bank was left scrambling for answers on Thursday morning after radio station Triple M posted a photo on Twitter sent in by an eagle-eyed listener.

The photo shows the RBA’s new $50 note under a magnifying glass and reveals an embarrassing typo in the reverse text, which features excerpts from Edith Cowan’s maiden speech to Western Australian Parliament.

In the phrase “it is a great responsibility to be the only woman here”, the word “responsibility” is misspelt as “responsibilty” — three times.

The new $50, which entered circulation last October, is similar to the old $50 with portraits of Aboriginal author David Unaipon and Cowan, the first female member of Australian parliament. It features new security features and tactile elements to aid the vision-impaired.

An RBA spokesman said, “The Reserve Bank of Australia is aware of it and the spelling will be corrected at the next print run.” He confirmed there had been “around 400 million” $50 banknotes printed with the error. “The next print run will commence around the middle of the year,” he said.