Coin of the Realm: Spelling Chile the Right Way

An exciting new role has just opened up at the national mint of Chile, but there's a catch: successful applicants will have to be able to spell the word "Chile."

Source: bcentral.cl Misprinted Chilean coin

That seemingly simple task was the undoing of the former general manager of the Chilean mint, Gregorio Iñiguez, who has reportedly been let go after an embarrassing blunder.

Iñiguez minted a set of 50-peso coins with the nation's name spelt C-H-I-I-E instead of the usual C-H-I-L-E, the BBC reported.

The mistake was only picked up late last year even though the coins were circulated back in 2008, the report said. Locals are now searching through their small change in the hope that the coins will become collectors' items and rise above their nominal value of around 9 cents, the report said.

The president of the governing body, María Eugenia Wagner, insisted that Mr Iñiguez's was not fired just because of the spelling mistake, but said he didn't fit the "profile" required by the company, the London Times reported.

The mistake was also missed by the head franker at the Chilean mint, Pedro Urzúa, who pleaded his innocence when it was alleged the mistake was done on propose, the BBC said. Urzúa pointed out to the BBC that an entire chain of people saw and approved the coin.