Sign in / up

back to article Chilean mint misspells Chile

The general manager of the Chilean mint has been given his marching orders after failing in a pretty fundamental area of his responsibilities: to ensure the country's name is spelt correctly on its national currency. According to the BBC, thousands of 50-peso coins were issued in 2008 bearing the legend "REPUBLICA DE CHIIE". …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Stu
    Megaphone

    How the...

    ...hell do you get right through the vigorous mint design processes, roll out thousands or more such coin and not notice a doozy like that!?

    Its not only a failing on the part of the head honcho and his kronies, but the fault of every mother f**ker in that organisation, front desk receptionist included!

    Disband the Chilean Mint!!!

    Shouty shouty.

    4 0
  2. Jason D
    Badgers

    I wonder how many...

    Money and coin related puns we'll get today...

    Easy mistake to make, think how many malware websites use that same trick.

    Just my two pence on the matter.

    0 0
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But

    It seems a little harsh, given that no-one noticed for at least a year.

    1 0
  4. McBread
    Coat

    He should have claimed...

    It's not a mistake, it's a typographical feature.

    1 0
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      No, no, no...

      It's an anti-fraud feature. Until El Reg broke the story, the Chilean Mint could identify real coins by checking to see if the name was spelt incorrectly. Now that cunning plan's been blown open they've had to resort to the back-up excuse that it was a terrible mistake.

      4 0
  5. Richard Scratcher

    Meh

    Jimi Hendrix spelt child wrong on the song "Voodoo Chile" (from his album "Electric Landlady") and nobody seemed to notice. That album sold millions of copies worldwide.

    1 0
    1. jake Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      RIP, Jimi ...

      "Chile" is correct, at least in the vernacular Hendrix was using, c.f. the B-side of the single "The Wind Cries Mary", which was the song "Highway Chile". I think Highway Chile is also on the late '60s "Smash Hits" compilation.

      BTW, the album is "Electric Ladyland" ... Just as a datapoint, the same album also contains the track "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", with a d.

      0 1
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      @Meh

      Strike a light, it's Chalkie White! I claim my £10.

      I need it as I was chucked out of my lodgings earlier!

      0 0
  6. Blue eyed boy
    Paris Hilton

    Could somebody please explain

    Stamps were a British invention, so the UK enjoys the singular privilege of not having to include the name of the country on its stamps.

    But coins were in use in various ancient civilisations while Britain was still ice-covered. So why does this privilege seem to apply to coins too?

    And "chile" (to rhyme with tile) was probably how JH pronounced it. (I'm not a fan, never heard the song.)

    Just my own two Chiiean peso's worth.

    (Paris cos I can't find Pinochet among the available icons.)

    0 0
  7. Anonymous Coward
    IT Angle

    50 Chillean Pesos

    = ~ 0.06 GBP

    http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi?Amount=50&From=CLP&To=GBP&x=0&y=0

    17:10 GMT, Feb 12, 2010

    0 1
  8. Stone Fox
    Pint

    the thought uccurs

    if you could make that kind of mistake deliberately, snaffle the first thousand or so, wait a day or two so *some* reach circulation before reporting the error to the mint...

    What would your coins be worth?

    2 0
    1. Richard IV
      Reply Icon
      Grenade

      the answer

      a lot less than still having an ordinarily secure civil service post.

      It's not like that in Britain of course, there's loads of MPs standing down at the next election after taking hefty advantage of the rules (while still barely being in them for the most part) - funny how they never mention the £60,000 do pass go several times bonus^H^H^H parachute payment they get for doing so.

      0 0
  9. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge
    Coat

    Bit harsh

    Losing your job over something no one spotted. I don't recall that happening when they forgot to put a date on 2009's 20p pieces, nor the error on 2p coins in 1983.

    Please, please, send your undated 20p's here ... http://www.undated20p.co.uk/

    Your get £50, my 20p increases in value :-)

    Paris : Because it's Friday and I'm reminded of an old joke. A woman comes home after spending a night working the streets in order to pay the bills. She returns clutching a huge sack of money. "How much?", Her husband asks. "One thousand, two hundred and sixteen pounds, ten pence", she replies. "Who gave you the 10p", he asks?

    "They all did".

    0 0
  10. Name Withheld

    Get them quick

    Bet they're worth a bob or two

    0 0
  11. Barrie Shepherd
    Jobs Horns

    Sill out money

    Proof read by the Grauniadan?

    0 0
  12. Trev 2

    We're not exactly immune...

    Remember the £5 note c*ckup where they coated them in plastic then tried to print the ID code on top and still managed to get them into the shops before anyone noticed. Didn't quite last a year however. Wonder if anyone got fired for that?

    0 0
  13. Morpho Devilpepper
    Coat

    Wins the numbskull award for sure

    It's even worse than that school in California, at which the people painting the crosswalk area misspelled the school in "school zone:" S-C-O-H-O-L

    Mine's the one with the crumpled-up GED cert in the breast pocket.

    0 0
    1. Phil 54
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      GED

      Ah, nothing like the ol' Good Enough Diploma!

      *I have one too!

      0 0
  14. Lars Silver badge
    IT Angle

    And the IT angle

    Is outsourcing, I suppose.

    0 0
  15. John Tserkezis

    Not surprised.

    "Jimi Hendrix spelt child wrong on the song Voodoo Chile and nobody seemed to notice"

    You neglect to say that Jimi Hendrix's fans were probably whacked out on mind-altering subsance(s) at the time. And when they finally sobered up years later, they probably didn't care anymore anyway.

    0 0
  16. Harry
    Unhappy

    But the spelling *IS* correct.

    They have just used a lower case L.

    1 0
  17. Winkypop Silver badge
    Coat

    I'll bet he gets...

    .... a FROSTY reception at his next place of employment...

    0 0
  18. Stoneshop
    Coat

    "Heads roll over 50-peso coin blunder"

    I suppose the tails did too.

    0 0
  19. Apocalypse Later

    Riddled with errors

    They misspelled "Republic" too.

    0 0
This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like