The general manager of the Chilean mint has been dismissed after thousands of coins were issued with the name of the country spelt wrongly.

The 50-peso coins - worth about 10 cents (6p) - were issued in 2008, but no-one noticed the mistake until late last year.

Instead of C-H-I-L-E, the coins had C-H-I-I-E stamped on them.

The coins have since become collectors' items and the mint says it has no plans to take them out of circulation.

The BBC's Gideon Long, in the Chilean capital Santiago, says people have been hoarding the coins in the hope their value rises.

But the mistake has cost the mint's general manager, Gregorio Iniguez, and several other employees, their jobs.

It is not the first embarrassing blunder at the Chilean mint, says our correspondent.

Last October, someone there sold a rare medal, which should have been housed in the institution's museum, to a coin collector.

A month later, another medal - this one bearing the face of the country's then President Michelle Bachelet - was inadvertently sold on the open market.

The latest blunder has caused a few chuckles in Chile, says our correspondent, and prompted shoppers up and down the country to view their loose change in a new light.

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