Gradually, Then Suddenly
ZIM89, 2008, 20 Trillion ZWR

Slot Comment:

3rd Dollar Banknote AA Prefix $20,000,000,000,000

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Note Details

  

Set Details
Note Description: 20 Trillion Dollars 2008
Grade: 68 EPQ
Country: Zimbabwe
Note Number: ZIM89
Signatures/
Vignettes: 		- Sign. #8
Certification #: 8072831-027
Owner: Revenant
Set Category: World
Set Name: Gradually, Then Suddenly
Slot Name: ZIM89, 2008, 20 Trillion ZWR
Research: See PMG's Census Report for this Note

Owner's Description

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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