If you don't specify a version (or request a retired version), you will be served a default version, which depending on your key configuration will be either 3.54 or 3.55. But a developer specified version will always be honored and served when requested when it's an existing version.
For more information about Maps API versioning, see:
To report issues with any version of the API, see: https://issuetracker.google.com/savedsearches/558438