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| Slot: |
1 Billion Dollars ZIM83 |
| Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank
1 Billion Dollars 2008 |
| Grade: |
PMG 65 EPQ |
| Cert #: |
1539489-045
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Owner Comments
Reuters reported the announcement of the $1 Billion, $5 Billion, and $10 Billion dollar banknotes on 19 Dec 2008 - a literal week after the last batch of notes was announced.
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 1 Billion dollar banknotes features an image of the Zimbabwe Aloe in the Great Zimbabwe ruins and an image of some elephants. The Zimbabwe Aloe (aloe excelsa) is usually about 3 meters (10 feet) tall but can reach up to 5-6 meters (up to 20 feet). Many of the plants can be found amongst the Great Zimbabwe ruins but it grows in a relatively small part of Africa, mostly confined to Zimbabwe and the nation of South Africa. The Zimbabwe Aloe image also appears on ZIM69 (100 ZWR), ZIM76 (500 000 ZWR), and ZIM86 (20 Billion ZWR). The image of the elephant used here also appears on ZIM66 (5 ZWR), ZIM75 (100 000 ZWR), and ZIM90 (50 Trillion). 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: |
5 Billion Dollars ZIM84 |
| Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank
5 Billion Dollars 2008 |
| Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
| Cert #: |
1539490-001
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Owner Comments
Reuters reported the announcement of the $1 Billion, $5 Billion, and $10 Billion dollar banknotes on 19 Dec 2008 - a literal week after the last batch of notes was announced.
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 5 Billion dollar banknote features an image of a tractor in a field and one of a cattle farmer in a barn with cows – both images that highlight the country’s agricultural sector. The image of the tractor also appears on ZIM67 (10 ZWR), and ZIM74 (50,000 ZWR). ZIM72 (10,000 ZWR) also features two images of tractors, however, neither of these matches the one on this note. The cattle farmer image also appears on ZIM70 (500 ZWR), ZIM76 (500,000 ZWR), and ZIM82 (500 Million 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. 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.
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| Slot: |
10 Billion Dollars ZIM85 |
| Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank
10 Billion Dollars 2008 |
| Grade: |
PMG 68 EPQ |
| Cert #: |
8087731-028
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Owner Comments
Reuters reported the announcement of the $1 Billion, $5 Billion, and $10 Billion dollar banknotes on 19 Dec 2008 - a literal week after the last batch of notes was announced.
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 10 Billion dollar banknote features images of the Kariba dam and of a miner. 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). This image of the dam also appears on ZIM90 (50 Trillion). The miner image also appears on ZIM68 (20 ZWR), ZIM74 (50 000 ZWR) ZIM82 (500 Million ZWR), ZIM89 (20 Trillion ZWR).
For a little more information on Kariba dam, see the note comments on ZIM1.
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.
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| Slot: |
20 Billion Dollars ZIM86 |
| Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank
20 Billion Dollars 2008 |
| Grade: |
PMG 67 EPQ |
| Cert #: |
8046946-018
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Owner Comments
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 20 Billion dollar banknote shows and image of the Great Zimbabwe ruins and an image of a Zimbabwe Aloe in a valley complex of the Great Zimbabwe ruins. The Zimbabwe Aloe (aloe excelsa) is usually about 3 meters (10 feet) tall but can reach up to 5-6 meters (up to 20 feet). Many of the plants can be found amongst the Great Zimbabwe ruins but it grows in a relatively small part of Africa, mostly confined to Zimbabwe and the nation of South Africa. 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), ZIM87 (50 Billion ZWR), and ZIM88 (10 Trillion ZWR). The Zimbabwe Aloe image also appears on ZIM69 (100 ZWR), ZIM76 (500 000 ZWR), and ZIM83 (1 Billion ZWR). The 100 dollar and 20 Billion dollar banknotes (ZIM69 and 86) use the same images, but the positions of the images are reversed, and the banknotes use different colors.
This note is one of five that my wife and I ordered together as my 3rd anniversary present from her. This note will always have a special place in my heart and in the set because of the story associated with it. She'd found my wish list on BankNoteWorld, which listed a PMG graded P-86 note on it. She didn't know about the PMG grading or the significance of that and got confused (She was pregnant and had "preggo-brain" as she calls it) and she both an ungraded 20 TRILLION (P-89) note instead, and I already had a P-89. She had been so excited and impressed with herself and she was so disappointed when she realized the mistake. We returned that P-89 though and then I got the chance to snap up this one and several other notes for the Zimbabwe set right after BankNoteWorld did a pretty significant, across-the-board reduction on the prices of their graded Zimbabwe notes. That was what helped get me back into building a Zimbabwe note set again. I would end up getting a lot of notes from them that year though because they did a ton of 50% off Zimbabwe notes sales that year - again, I think because they had a lot of old inventory that they got too much of during the boom in this series and they were just looking to dump the inventory. It was a little sad for me when those sales finally stopped in late 2019 because I got a lot of notes at a good price that way! Building this MASSIVE collection would have taken a lot longer and been a lot harder without that lucky break at a time when I didn't have much money to throw at it.
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| Slot: |
50 Billion Dollars ZIM87 |
| Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank
50 Billion Dollars 2008 |
| Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
| Cert #: |
1804771-060
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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.
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 Billion 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 appears on ZIM71 (1000 ZWR), ZIM88 (10 trillion 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 ZIM88 (10 Trillion ZWR). The 10 Trillion and 50 Billion dollar banknotes (ZIM87 and 88) are sequential notes in the series and use the same images, but the positions of the images are reversed, and the banknotes use different colors.
This was the last of the "Billions" notes added to my collection. I didn't get one for the longest time because the sellers that had one were asking a lot for it relative to what I had been paying for the rest of the set and it wasn't worth it to me. I finally found one going for a price I was comfortable with and jumped at the chance to finish the billions set.
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