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| Slot: |
10 Trillion Dollars ZIM88 |
| Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank
10 Trillion Dollars 2008 |
| Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
| Cert #: |
1535774-024
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Owner Comments
It is interesting to note that the highest "Billion" denomination is 50 Billon dollars and the lowest "Trillion" denomination is 10 Trillion Dollars. There is no 100 Billion. There is no 200 Billion. There is no 500 Billion. There is no 1 or 5 Trillion banknote. By this point in time the inflation situation had gotten so far out of control that they had to skip all of that and go right for denominations of 10 to 100 Trillion dollars. As a result, from ZIM87 to ZIM88 the face value of the note jumps by a factor of 200. In August 2008 the exchange rate was ZWR$1,780 to US$1. By November 2008, the exchange rate was ZWR$669,000,000,000 to US$1.
A report by the BBC dates the announcement of this note to the 16th of January 2009. That’s just 6 days after a news story ran with CNN, reporting the announcment of the $20 Billion and $50 Billion notes.
The Zimbabwe regular banknotes feature an image of the Chiremba balancing rock formation - three balancing rocks that are in Matobo National Park. The image of the stones was chosen as a metaphor for balancing development and environmental protection following the country’s transition from white-ruled Rhodesia to the majority black ruled Zimbabwe. The Matobo Hills are composed entirely of granite and it makes for some really unique and interesting formations.
The back side of the Trillions Series banknotes all feature a pair of images that have some kind of national, cultural or economic significance to Zimbabwe. These images are different on each denomination though some of the images seem to have been used more than once on different denominations throughout the series.
The 10 Trillion dollar banknote juxtaposes an image of The Reserve Bank Tower - home of the RBZ, completed in 1997 - with an image of the Great Zimbabwe Ruins. This image of the RBZ tower also appears on ZIM71 (1000 ZWR), and ZIM87 (50 Billion ZWR). Depictions of the Great Zimbabwe ruins are seen as far back as the 1st dollar, with ZIM8. However, this appears to be artwork introduced with the 3rd dollar series and it was a heavily used fixture of the series. It appears on ZIM69 (100 ZWR) ZIM77 (1 Million ZWR) ZIM78 (10 Million ZWR), ZIM79 (50 Million ZWR), ZIM86 (20 Billion ZWR), and ZIM87 (50 Billion ZWR).
The 10 Trillion and 50 Billion Notes (ZIM87 and 88) are sequential notes in the series and use the same 2 images, but the positions of the images are reversed, and they use different colors.
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| Slot: |
20 Trillion Dollars ZIM89 |
| Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank
20 Trillion Dollars 2008 |
| Grade: |
PMG 68 EPQ |
| Cert #: |
8072831-027
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Owner Comments
A report by the BBC dates the announcement of this note to the 16th of January 2009. That’s just 6 days after a news story ran with CNN, reporting the announcement of the $20 Billion and $50 Billion notes.
The Zimbabwe regular banknotes feature an image of the Chiremba balancing rock formation - three balancing rocks that are in Matobo National Park. The image of the stones was chosen as a metaphor for balancing development and environmental protection following the country’s transition from white-ruled Rhodesia to the majority black ruled Zimbabwe. The Matobo Hills are composed entirely of granite and it makes for some unique and interesting formations.
The back side of the Trillions Series banknotes all feature a pair of images that have some kind of national, cultural or economic significance to Zimbabwe. These images are different on each denomination though some of the images seem to have been used more than once on different denominations throughout the series.
The 20 Trillion Note uses an image of a miner and an Image of grain silos. The miner image also appears on ZIM68 (20 ZWR), ZIM74 (50 000 ZWR), ZIM82 (500 Million ZWR), and ZIM85 (10 Billion ZWR). The image of the grain silos also appears on ZIM80 (100 Million ZWR), and ZIM67 (10 ZWR). While the amount of arable land in Zimbabwe is relatively small, the nation was a great agricultural producer and Zimbabwe’s agricultural industry was very well performing until 2001, when land re-distribution policies instituted by the government caused massive upheaval. As of 2015, agriculture was about 18% of Zimbabwe’s GDP.
Mining has also long been a major industry in Zimbabwe with the major export / mined resource being Gold. As of 2021 mining accounted for about 12% of national GDP. It seems as though, once agriculture collapsed, the mining industry became one of the few remaining sources for foreign money to flow into the country. When the economy started to “dollarize” the miners were some of the first ones to want to be paid in something other than Zimbabwean dollars.
While the amount of arable land in Zimbabwe is relatively small, the nation was a great agricultural producer and Zimbabwe’s agricultural industry was very well performing until 2001, when land re-distribution policies instituted by the government caused massive upheaval. At its peak agriculture was one third of national GDP. In 2015, agriculture was still about 18% of Zimbabwe’s GDP. In 2021 it was 17% of GDP, but the agricultural industry employs 60-70 of the working population.
It seems to have been a popular move during the design and printing of the third dollars to pair the image of the miner with images relating to farming and agriculture – highlighting two of the country’s major industries together.
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| Slot: |
50 Trillion Dollars ZIM90 |
| Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank
50 Trillion Dollars 2008 |
| Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
| Cert #: |
1537073-006
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Owner Comments
A report by the BBC dates the announcement of this note to the 16th of January 2009. That’s just 6 days after a news story ran with CNN, reporting the announcement of the $20 Billion and $50 Billion notes.
The Zimbabwe regular banknotes feature an image of the Chiremba balancing rock formation - three balancing rocks that are in Matobo National Park. The image of the stones was chosen as a metaphor for balancing development and environmental protection following the country’s transition from white-ruled Rhodesia to the majority black ruled Zimbabwe. The Matobo Hills are composed entirely of granite and it makes for some really unique and interesting formations.
The back side of the Trillions Series banknotes all feature a pair of images that have some kind of national, cultural or economic significance to Zimbabwe. These images are different on each denomination though some of the images seem to have been used more than once on different denominations throughout the series.
The 50 Trillion dollar banknote uses an image of Kariba Dam and an image of an elephant. While Kariba Dam has appeared on Zimbabwean banknotes all the way back to the beginning, with ZIM1, this artwork does not appear to be the same as any of those used in previous series. This artwork seems to have premiered with the Third Dollar series, on ZIM66 (5 ZWR). That issue (ZIM66) uses both the same images as ZIM90, in the same positions, just with different colors applied. This image of the dam also appears on ZIM68 (20,000 ZWR), ZIM85 (10 Billion ZWR). The image of the elephant used here also appears on ZIM66 (5 ZWR), ZIM75 (100 000 ZWR), and ZIM83 (1 Billion ZWR). Elephants appear on the backs of 1st dollar and 2nd dollar issues but this appears to be artwork introduced with the 3rd dollar.
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| Slot: |
100 Trillion Dollars ZIM91 |
| Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank
100 Trillion Dollars 2008 |
| Grade: |
PMG 67 EPQ |
| Cert #: |
1529583-044
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Owner Comments
A report by the BBC dates the announcement of this note to the 16th of January 2009. That’s just 6 days after a news story ran with CNN, reporting the announcment of the $20 Billion and $50 Billion notes.
I think to fully understand this note you need to understand the fact that these are 3rd dollars and that these were made after two re-denominations. In the first 3 zeros were taken off the denominations / currency and in the second 10 were. So, in first dollars, this note is $1,000,000,000,000 000,000,000,000,000. Yup. That's 27 zeros; not 14. This note is equal to 1 octillion of the first dollars (ZWD). That's the part of this that you don't get from just looking at this one note / issue.
This banknote made a lot of headlines for being the first bank note with 14 zeros printed out (a dizzying amount to be sure). There have been higher denominations in the past, but they found ways to shorthand the denomination. During the hyperinflation of the Hungarian pengo in the 1946’s they would refer to “milpengo” and “bilpengo,” which were 1 million and 1 trillion pengo, respectively. So, a Hungarian 1,000,000,000 bilpengo note is 1 Billion Trillion pengo, or 1 sextillion pengo (a 1 with 21 zeros behind it). I believe that is technically the highest denomination ever achieved. From the foregoing discussion, Zimbabwe could have achieved those levels, but the redenominations that occurred during their hyperinflation prevented it.
In 2008, inflation rates in Zimbabwe peaked at 89.7 sextillion percent and a single egg could cost “well over a billion dollars.”
At these price levels you begin to run into certain practical limits in the modern era. By late 2008, ATMs were returning “data overflow error” in response to customers trying to withdraw such large sums of money. These difficulties forced the government into the release of the 4th dollar in 2009, which removed 12 zeros from the currency. The Hungarians didn’t have to deal with computerized banking systems in the 1940s.
In mid-2015 the Zimbabwean government finally began the formal, final demonetization of the Zimbabwean dollar. The Zimbabwean government stated that it would credit US$5 to domestic bank accounts, with balances of up to 175 quadrillion ZWL, and that it would exchange Zimbabwean dollars for US dollars at a rate of US$1 to 35 quadrillion ZWL to accounts with balances above 175 quadrillion ZWL.
The Zimbabwe regular banknotes feature an image of the Chiremba balancing rock formation - three balancing rocks that are in Matobo National Park. The image of the stones was chosen as a metaphor for balancing development and environmental protection following the country’s transition from white-ruled Rhodesia to the majority black ruled Zimbabwe. The Matobo Hills are composed entirely of granite and it makes for some really unique and interesting formations.
The back side of the Trillions Series notes all feature a pair of images that have some kind of national, cultural or economic significance to Zimbabwe. These images are different on each denomination though some of the images seem to have been used more than once on different denominations throughout the series.
The 100 Trillion dollar banknote uses an image of Victoria Falls and an image of a Cape Buffalo (African Buffalo). The image of Victoria Falls looks like it might be a re-use of the artwork previously used on ZIM30, ZIM32, ZIM40, and ZIM41. This image of the falls also appears on ZIM65 (1 ZWR), and ZIM73 (20,000 ZWR). The Cape Buffalo image was previously used on ZIM65 (1 ZWR), ZIM75 (100 000 ZWR) and ZIM79 (50 Million ZWR). The Cape Buffalo is a popular target for recreational / sport hunting by tourists. ZIM65 (1 ZWR) uses both of the same images as ZIM91, in the same positions, with different colors applied.
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