diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bc15abf..16ab532 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -12,19 +12,19 @@ The following example demonstrates the usage of this module:
 
 ```erlang
 1> base58:integer_to_base58(16#00010966776006953D5567439E5E39F86A0D273BEED61967F6).
-"6UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM"
-2> base58:base58_to_integer("6UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM").
+"16UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM"
+2> base58:base58_to_integer("16UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM").
 25420294593250030202636073700053352635053786165627414518
-3> base58:base58_to_integer("6UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM") == 16#00010966776006953D5567439E5E39F86A0D273BEED61967F6.
+3> base58:base58_to_integer("16UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM") == 16#00010966776006953D5567439E5E39F86A0D273BEED61967F6.
 true
 4> base58:binary_to_base58(binary:encode_unsigned(16#00010966776006953D5567439E5E39F86A0D273BEED61967F6)).
-"6UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM"
+"16UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM"
 5> base58:base58_to_binary("6UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM").
-<<1,9,102,119,96,6,149,61,85,103,67,158,94,57,248,106,13,
+<<0, 1,9,102,119,96,6,149,61,85,103,67,158,94,57,248,106,13,
   39,59,238,214,25,103,246>>
-6> base58:check_base58("6UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM"). 
+6> base58:check_base58("16UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM"). 
 true
-7> base58:check_base58("6UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjv0").
+7> base58:check_base58("16UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjv0").
 false
 ```
 
diff --git a/src/base58.erl b/src/base58.erl
index 6653326..e6c1b6c 100644
--- a/src/base58.erl
+++ b/src/base58.erl
@@ -192,7 +192,11 @@ base58_to_integer([Char | Str]) ->
 
 -spec base58_to_binary(base58()) -> binary().
 base58_to_binary(Base58) ->
-	binary:encode_unsigned(base58_to_integer(Base58)).
+	Bin = binary:encode_unsigned(base58_to_integer(Base58)),
+	%The conversion between the binary and the integer strips any leading zero bytes that 
+	% might have appeared in the binary - '0's' should be prepended to the binary stream for each
+	% 1 that appeared at the start of the base58 string.
+	zeroPad(Base58, Bin).
 
 %% @doc Convert a binary into a Base58 encoded string. The resulting Base58
 %% encoded string will be in a big-endian representation of the original binary.
@@ -203,5 +207,22 @@ base58_to_binary(Base58) ->
 binary_to_base58(Binary) when is_binary(Binary) ->
 	case integer_to_base58(binary:decode_unsigned(Binary)) of
 		error -> error;
-		Base58 -> Base58
+		Base58 ->
+			% see above comment - just the reverse
+			binaryPad(binary_to_list(Binary), Base58)
 	end.
+
+%% @doc Pad a "1" character to a Base58 stream to account for any stripped zeros
+%%
+%% @spec binaryPad(list(), base58())
+binaryPad([0 | Rest], Bin) ->
+	binaryPad(Rest, "1" ++ Bin);
+binaryPad(_, Bin) -> Bin.
+
+%% @doc Pad a zero byte to a Base58 stream to account for any leading 1's
+%%
+%% @spec zeroPad(base58(), binary())
+
+zeroPad("1" ++ Rest, Base58) ->
+	zeroPad(Rest, <<0, Base58/binary>>);
+zeroPad(_, Base58) -> Base58.