Whenever a mistake occurred in the printing of an Australian Commonwealth banknote, it would be removed and replaced by another hand numbered with the same serial number. By 1948 this had become so time-consuming and uneconomical that the Note Printing Branch introduced the American system of printing a hollow 5-point star after the serial number to indicate it was a replacement. This system continued through the introduction of decimal notes in 1966 until 1969, when electronic note-counting machines could identify and remove the faulty notes automatically.
While pre-decimal star notes were produced for 10/- and £1 notes from September 1948 until 1964, £5 star notes were only introduced in 1962. Pre-decimal star notes are highly sought after, due to their rarity and the small number issued, since most were withdrawn and destroyed. There are no star notes in existence above £5.