A businessman in Wuhu who came in possession of a misprinted 100-yuan bill was shocked to find out recently that it might be worth millions.

The rare bank note, dated 1999, features a watermark image of Chairman Mao that was mistakenly printed upside-down.

The man said he came across the bill as he was standing in line at a bank eight years ago. He'd seen another elderly customer holding it, and upon noticing the inverted image of Mao, asked if he could trade him for another 100-yuan note, because his brother-in-law "thought it was funny".

Last month, he posted a picture of the bill online and began receiving offers from collectors, some who were willing to pay over 70,0000 yuan to get their hands on defected bank note. A Shanghai auction house told him the note worth 23 million yuan.

A local bank verified the bank note's authenticity after running it through a counterfeit machine, Hong Kong Free Press reports, citing Anhui news. The chances of money being misprinted are a million to one, and such bank notes are typically pulled out of circulation by banks.

The Chongqing owner of a flawed 100-yuan banknote which featured a tiny line misprinted on Mao's chin was previously offered up to 1.5 million yuan for the thing.

To read the complete article, see:
Flawed banknote featuring upside-down Mao worth up to 23 million (http://shanghaiist.com/2015/07/09/flawed-banknote-upside-down-mao.php)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
MAO CHIN MARK MAKES A VALUABLE ERROR BANKNOTE (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n23a30.html)