Operation Sunrise
10 Million Dollars ZIM55

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Note Details

Set Details
Note Description: Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank
10 Million Dollars 2008 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird
Grade: 68 EPQ
Country: ZIM
Note Number: ZIM55b
Signatures/
Vignettes:		 - Sign. #8
- Series D
Certification #: 8046943-042  
Owner: Revenant
Sets Competing: Operation Sunrise  Score: 50
Date Added: 6/1/2019
Research: See PMG's Census Report for this Note

Owner's Description

Where the balancing rocks are a major design feature on the front of the banknotes, with the checks of this series they appear only as part of the seal of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

On the back, the bearer checks of this series feature different designs, emphasizing things of national or cultural significance, much like the first dollar banknotes that came before them. In that regard, these bearer checks are a bit of a cross between the bearer checks and the banknotes of the first dollars in terms of design.

The back of these notes features an image of a Tigerfish and the Kariba dam. This artwork premiered on the 1 dollar notes (ZIM1) from the early 1980s. The artwork also appears on ZIM43 (500 ZWN), and ZIM60 (500 Million ZWN). This artwork also reappears in the 4th dollar series on the 5 dollar notes (ZIM93).

The Kariba Dam is a double curvature concrete arch dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi river basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The dam stands 128 meters (420 feet) tall and 579 meters (1,900 feet) long. The dam forms Lake Kariba which extends for 280 kilometers (170 miles) and holds 185 cubic kilometers (150,000,000 acre-ft) of water. It was designed by Coyne et Bellier and constructed between 1955 and 1959 by Impresit of Italy at a cost of $135,000,000 for the first stage with only the Kariba South power cavern. Final construction and the addition of the Kariba North Power cavern by Mitchell Construction was not completed until 1977 due to largely political problems for a total cost of $480,000,000. During construction, 86 men lost their lives.

The name “tigerfish” can refer to more than one species of fish. The species native to Lake Kariba is Hydrocynus vittatus. They are prized as game fish and for trophy hunting. Even though they come from different zoological families the Tigerfish is considered the African equivalent of the South American piranha and it seems an apt comparison. The fish are muscular, aggressive, group-hunting predators with interlocking, razor-sharp teeth. They are the first freshwater fish recorded and confirmed to catch birds in flight. Frankly, they look nasty and unpleasant. The note brags this up by showing the fish jumping from the water with its teeth out.

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