New $50 Enters Circulation

Today is the day that the new Australian $50 enters circulation and becomes legal tender. It is the third denomination in the new series of Australian banknotes and follows the release of the $5 and $10 bank notes over the past two years. The new $20 note is expected to be released in 2019 and the new $100 is expected to be released in 2020.

As with the release of any new banknote, it will take time for the new $50 to be widely available. The existing series of banknotes will be progressively withdrawn from circulation, however they'll retain their legal tender status and can continue to be used.

Expect to see the new note being given as change and be aware that it contains the similar security features of the new $10 note that was released around the same time last year. A strip of clear plastic with raised profiles and a lot of additional changes to help prevent anyone producing fakes.

For more information, the media release from the RBA is available here.