19 October 2018 -- With the release of the new Australia $50 banknote on Thursday 18 October, the Note Printing Australia team were out in full force the following day to celebrate the launch of the new note, which is affectionately known in Australia as ‘the Pineapple’.
With key learning gained by the NPA team after completing the $5 and $10 banknotes, the $50 is the largest and most demanding part of Australia’s new NGB series. The Pineapple is Australia’s flagship banknote in terms of ATM usage and at 710 million pieces is 46% of total banknotes in circulation.
What became known as Pineapple Day at NPA consisted of a range of activities including a raffle for one of 24 pineapple-themed t-shirts ($627 raised and being donated to Red Cross Indonesia following the earthquake/tsunami disaster), a display of a ‘deconstructed’ $50 banknote in the NPA Lobby showing the key layers of the banknote’s construction, the opportunity for employees to purchase mint condition NGB$50 banknotes, and the distribution of pineapple-themed food in lunchrooms throughout the organisation.
“It was a fantastic day for NPA and there was a great atmosphere around the place. There’s great pride in this note amongst the staff and we saw that today,” says NPA CEO Malcolm McDowell.
NPA continues to print the remaining volumes of the $50, with the NGB$20 and $100 banknotes to be issued across the next two years.