The gallery tab shows only items with images. Click the thumbnails to enlarge. |
Slot: |
1 Cent ZIM33 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 1 Cent 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046910-076
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Owner Comments
I think, when most people think of fractional banknotes, they think of Civil War era US issues. Fractional issues tend to only occur during very unusual, economically unsettled times. In the Civil War there was a lot of coin hoarding because of inflation. The Confederate States experience another of history’s great hyperinflations.
Since I learned about their existence, I’ve found these four fractional notes (the 1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, and 50 cent notes) especially interesting and I’ve known from the beginning that I would want these fully represented in my collection of Zimbabwe notes – even if the full 2nd dollar bearer check series never was. But then I managed to complete the fully 28-note set.
These fractional notes are rather odd to look at. They are extremely plain - even by the low standards of this series. These fractional notes even differ from the other notes in the series to acknowledge in a way that they should be coins. That, in any normal time, these denominations would be coin. Where the rest of the series features artwork on the back that is borrowed and repurposed from the 1st dollar series, the reverse of the fractional notes shows only a circle with the denomination in the middle - a design feature acknowledging that awkward truth about these notes.
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.
Much like the 100 Trillion note, it is one of those crazy, freakish things that only happens in a hyperinflation situation. You would never normally see a 1 cent note. This note shows that it is not always a story of big numbers on notes. There is a broader selection of oddities and aberrations that occur.
This note is one of five that my wife and I ordered together as my 3rd anniversary present from her.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note would have had the same value as the P-3 and P-6, $10 notes of the 1st dollar series.
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Slot: |
5 Cents ZIM34 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 5 Cents 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 67 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046910-081
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Owner Comments
I think, when most people think of fractional banknotes, they think of Civil War era US issues. Fractional issues tend to only occur during very unusual, economically unsettled times. In the Civil War there was a lot of coin hoarding because of inflation. The Confederate States experience another of history’s great hyperinflations.
Since I learned about their existence, I’ve found these four fractional notes (the 1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, and 50 cent notes) especially interesting and I’ve known from the beginning that I would want these fully represented in my collection of Zimbabwe notes – even if the full 2nd dollar bearer check series never was. But then I managed to complete the fully 28-note set.
These fractional notes are rather odd to look at. They are extremely plain - even by the low standards of this series. These fractional notes even differ from the other notes in the series to acknowledge in a way that they should be coins. That, in any normal time, these denominations would be coin. Where the rest of the series features artwork on the back that is borrowed and repurposed from the 1st dollar series, the reverse of the fractional notes shows only a circle with the denomination in the middle - a design feature acknowledging that awkward truth about these notes.
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.
Much like the 100 Trillion note, it is one of those crazy, freakish things that only happens in a hyperinflation situation. You would never normally see a 5 cent note. This note shows that it is not always a story of big numbers on notes. There is a broader selection of oddities and aberrations that occur.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note would have had the same value as the P-8, $50 notes of the 1st dollar series.
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Slot: |
10 Cents ZIM35 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 10 Cents 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 67 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046919-013
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Owner Comments
I think, when most people think of fractional banknotes, they think of Civil War era US issues. Fractional issues tend to only occur during very unusual, economically unsettled times. In the Civil War there was a lot of coin hoarding because of inflation. The Confederate States experience another of history’s great hyperinflations.
Since I learned about their existence, I’ve found these four fractional notes (the 1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, and 50 cent notes) especially interesting and I’ve known from the beginning that I would want these fully represented in my collection of Zimbabwe notes – even if the full 2nd dollar bearer check series never was. But then I managed to complete the fully 28-note set.
These fractional notes are rather odd to look at. They are extremely plain - even by the low standards of this series. These fractional notes even differ from the other notes in the series to acknowledge in a way that they should be coins. That, in any normal time, these denominations would be coin. Where the rest of the series features artwork on the back that is borrowed and repurposed from the 1st dollar series, the reverse of the fractional notes shows only a circle with the denomination in the middle - a design feature acknowledging that awkward truth about these notes.
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.
Much like the 100 Trillion note, it is one of those crazy, freakish things that only happens in a hyperinflation situation. You would never normally see a 10 cent note. This note shows that it is not always a story of big numbers on notes. There is a broader selection of oddities and aberrations that occur.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note would have had the same value as the P-9, $100 notes of the 1st dollar series.
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Slot: |
50 Cents ZIM36 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 50 Cents 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 68 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046919-023
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Owner Comments
I think, when most people think of fractional banknotes, they think of Civil War era US issues. Fractional issues tend to only occur during very unusual, economically unsettled times. In the Civil War there was a lot of coin hoarding because of inflation. The Confederate States experience another of history’s great hyperinflations.
Since I learned about their existence, I’ve found these four fractional notes (the 1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, and 50 cent notes) especially interesting and I’ve known from the beginning that I would want these fully represented in my collection of Zimbabwe notes – even if the full 2nd dollar bearer check series never was. But then I managed to complete the fully 28-note set.
These fractional notes are rather odd to look at. They are extremely plain - even by the low standards of this series. These fractional notes even differ from the other notes in the series to acknowledge in a way that they should be coins. That, in any normal time, these denominations would be coin. Where the rest of the series features artwork on the back that is borrowed and repurposed from the 1st dollar series, the reverse of the fractional notes shows only a circle with the denomination in the middle - a design feature acknowledging that awkward truth about these notes.
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.
Much like the 100 Trillion note, it is one of those crazy, freakish things that only happens in a hyperinflation situation. You would never normally see a 50 cent note. This note shows that it is not always a story of big numbers on notes. There is a broader selection of oddities and aberrations that occur.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note would have had the same value as the P-10 and P-11, $500 notes of the 1st dollar series.
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Slot: |
1 Dollar ZIM37 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 1 Dollar 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046919-051
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Owner Comments
The Third Chimurenga (Shona word for “Struggle”), aka the Fast Track Land Reform Program of 2000 transferred about 4,500 farms from whites to landless blacks in the country - supposedly. There were reports at the time of farms actually going to well-connected elites in the government and armed forces, with General Constantine Chiwenga supposedly receiving 17 farms since 2000. Many of the new owners were then unable to succeed because the government failed to supply or make available agricultural inputs (seed, fertilizer).
Chirurenga was the name given to the program because it was also the name used for the indigenous resistance against British settlers from 1896-1987 - that was “the first Chirurenga.” That period is also sometimes called the “War of Primary Resistance.” The War of Independence / Civil War that lasted from the mid-1960s to 1980, and which saw Rhodesia become Zimbabwe, became known as the “Second Chirurenga.” So, calling this “the Third Chirurenga” is yet another case of a corrupt government trying to wrap their corrupt efforts in an air of legitimacy by linking it to the pre-colonial past of the country - similar to some of what was happening in Venezuela during the same period.
But the Third Chirurenga helped set the stage for Operation Maguta - and, really, the whole collapse of the country and economy.
Operation Maguta (“People have had their fill”), launched in 2005, saw soldiers sent to farms - former commercial farms identified as being “under-utilized” - to produce maize in an attempt to boost domestic food production - which had been tanking. Farmers were told to plant maize and wheat at the expense of other crops.
The program was supposed to produce 2.3 million tonnes of maize, 90000 tonnes of tobacco, 49500 tonnes of maize seed, 210000 tonnes of cotton, 8250 tonnes of tea and 750000 tonnes of other crops. It was supposed produce enough to build up strategic national reserves and ensure food security for the population.
The government declared the program a success every year while not releasing any production figures... In 2007 UN FAO and the World Food Programme said Zimbabwe had a grain deficit of roughly 890,000 tonnes - with domestic production cut in half from 2006 to 2007 because of weather, shortages of key inputs, deteriorating irrigation systems and other infrastructure, and government price controls that made production “financially unviable” - more on that specifically later.
A 2006-dated article from the Independent called Maguta a dismal failure and a flop, and pointed to areas / projects that were supposed to deliver 10,000 tonnes of maize and instead delivered about 10 tonnes. Farmer’s organizations put the 2006 maize production at 600,000-800,000 tonnes - which would only be about one fourth to one third the goal of 2.3 million tonnes. The tobacco production was half the target for that year according to that same article.
Some attributed the failure to a lack of inputs and poor planning - like planting crops late or at generally inappropriate times. There were reports that claimed that some in the military and the politically collected stole farm equipment, fertilizer and other resources or distributed them in a manner that favored the well-connected.
Vice President Mujuru toured some of the farms that first year but cut the trip short in disgust after seeing so many wilted crops and crops that were “total write-off.”
At least one study report I’ve found indicated Operation Maguta was still ongoing in 2009.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note would have had the same value as the P-12 notes that were the highest denomination bank note of the 1st dollar series. It would have also had equal value to the P-15 $1,000 traveler’s checks.
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.
These 1-dollar bearer checks (ZIM37) use the image of a few people working in a rural setting that premiered originally on the 5 dollar (ZIM2) notes in the early 1980s. However, where that note is predominantly green, this one is almost all blue. This image also appears on ZIM39 (10 ZWN), ZIM53 (1 Million ZWN), and ZIM58 (100 Million ZWN). This image reappears in the 4th dollar series on the 1-dollar notes (ZIM92).
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Slot: |
5 Dollars ZIM38 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 5 Dollars 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 68 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046919-079
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Owner Comments
At the time it was announced in 2005, some called “Operation Sunrise,” “Murambatsvina Part 2.” So, what was “Murambatsvina?”
Operation Murambatsvina (“Drive out the Filth”) was a 2005 operation, also called “Operation Restore Order,” which was officially called a “slum clearance program” intended to flush out “criminals.” On article I found said it started on 19 May 2005, “with little or no warning.” It was officially announced to be over on 25 June 2005, but then Vice President Mujuru said it was “now complete” on 28 July 2005. But then some sources from after the fact call it a “winter 2005 operation.” So exactly when it ended seems a bit… “fuzzy.”
More than 700,000 people were left homeless after houses and shacks were bulldozed, informal trader’s stalls were demolished and their goods were confiscated. Some estimates put the number impacted at 2.4 million. UN Special Envoy Anna Tibalijuka called it a breach of national and international human rights laws. General Constantine Chiwenga, the chief of the national defense forces, and the chief of police Augustine Chihuri were both involved in the planning and execution of the program. Chihuri reportedly said it was to “clean the country of the crawling mass of maggots bent on destroying the economy.” International Legal Experts said if Zimbabwe had signed the Rome Treaty the perpetrators of this program would have needed to face trial at the ICC for human rights violations.
Many in Zimbabwe have claimed the whole thing was politically motivated because it came with so little warning and started just 1.5 months after disputed parliamentary elections that didn’t go well for ZANU-PF on 31 Mar 2005. It was claimed that the whole thing was really meant to, among other things, weaken the opposition and exact a measure of retribution. Others have claimed it was an attempt to seize foreign currency and disrupt foreign currency transactions because many of the stalls targeted were believed to be black market stalls and some supposedly were just retail fronts for businesses that primarily operated as foreign currency traders. People claiming this pointed to the heavy involvement of Dr Gideon Gono in the planning and execution of the program.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note would have had the same value as the P-13 $5,000 Cargill Bearer Checks, the P-16 $5,000 traveler’s checks and the P-21 $5,000 Emergency Bearer Checks.
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.
These 5-dollar bearer checks (ZIM38) feature an image of torch in Harare (capital city) that represents “The Eternal Flame of Freedom.” This image originally premiered on the 10-dollar note (ZIM3) in the early 1980s. However, that note (ZIM3) is mostly red. This note has a lot green and some cream-like colors. This image also appears on ZIM56 (25 Million ZWN). This torch / monument (which is lit during independence day celebrations in Zimbabwe) didn’t appear again in the 3rd dollar series but made a comeback in the 4th dollar series on the 100 dollar note (ZIM97) – one of the last notes made before the currency was abandoned / suspended for 10 years in 2009.
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Slot: |
10 Dollars ZIM39 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 10 Dollars 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 68 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046919-081
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Owner Comments
Just five weeks after Murambatsvina, in Mid-2005, the government launched “Operation Garikai” / “Operation Hlalani Kuhle” (“For a Better Life”). This one - with a far friendlier name than its predecessor - was said to be a plan to build houses for the victims of the slum clearance. Amnesty International pointed out that it didi not actually assist the victims of Operation Murambatsvina. The houses - what were built - were given to civil servants, police, and soldiers - people that supported the government.
Amnesty international called Hlalani Huhle wholly inadequate in response to the damage caused by Murambatsvina, but there were no other major government programs even nominally directed at helping the people displaced and hurt by Murambatsvina. In a May 2010 article, Amnesty International said that, what houses did go to those displaced by Murambatsvina under Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle were “completely uninhabitable,” with no floors, windows, water or toilets.” I’m not sure how long they at least gave lip-service to this program but the same 2010 Amnesty article indicated that, by Mid 2010, this program/plan appeared to have been abandoned.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note would have had the same value as the P-14 $10,000 Cargill Bearer Checks, the P-17 $10,000 traveler’s checks and the P-22 $10,000 Emergency Bearer Checks.
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.
These 10 dollar bearer checks (ZIM39) use the image of a few people working in a rural setting that premiered originally on the 5 dollar (ZIM2) notes in the early 1980s. However, where that note is predominantly green, this one is almost all red. This image also appears on ZIM37 (1 ZWN), ZIM53 (1 Million ZWN), and ZIM58 (100 Million ZWN).
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Slot: |
20 Dollars ZIM40 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 20 Dollars 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 67 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8087274-001
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Owner Comments
Operation Reduce Prices launched in June 2007 as an attempt to stop sky-rocketing food and commodity prices with inflation at the time running at an annualized 4000%. The government compelled businesses and manufacturers to cut prices by up to 50 percent - especially on key good and commodities and food items - under threat of severe fines and / or imprisonment.
Interestingly, inflation was so out of control at ~4000% (3700% at the time of the announcement) the announcement was made on or around June 26th, asking people to roll prices back to what they’d been on June 18th, about 1 week prior - and that was up to a 50% reduction. Meaning prices had roughly doubled on some things in about 1 week. Teams of “inspectors” were sent to businesses to make sure the program was complied with.
Some sources call this a July 2007 program even though contemporary articles, including from Reuters, date the announcement to late June 2007. References dating to July 2007 may be talking about the “inspectors” visiting businesses and enforcing the change - which I’m sure went on for a while and was not fully concluded by June 30, 2007, assuming they were even able to start inspections by July 1, 2007.
Not surprisingly this led to store shelves being cleared out within days, but businesses couldn’t then afford to restock, and this led to shortages of basically everything. The goods sold in this way were resold on the black market at prices that were higher than the price before “Operation Reduce Prices” went into effect.
Some speculated that the whole program and the subsequent, predictable shortages were an attempt to shift the blame for the inflation on the private sector and deflect blame from the government. In the same article by Reuters, the International Trade Minister at the time - Obert Mpofu - was quoted as saying the government was “aware that these escalating price increases are a political ploy engineered by our detractors to effect an illegal regime change against the ruling party and the government following a failure of illegal economic sanctions.” Because that’s just want you do when your house is on fire - blame everyone else.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note would have had the same value as the P-25 $20,000 Cargill Bearer Checks, the P-18 $20,000 traveler’s checks and the P-23 $20,000 Emergency Bearer Checks.
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.
These 100-dollar bearer checks (ZIM42) use the image of Victoria Falls. This image appears to be the same artwork that first appeared on the 1st dollar bearer checks series (P-28 through P-32). The image also appears on P-41 (50 ZWN). It looks like the image of Victoria Falls that appears on the 3rd dollar series might be a re-use of a very small segment of this same artwork, but the full image shown on the back of this not does not appear again after this note. Look at P-41 for more on Victoria Falls.
It always feels a bit careless and sloppy to get two sequential notes or designs in a Zimbabwe series that use the same back artwork. There was seemingly a deliberate effort to reuse the artwork but rotate between them and not just keep reusing the same design. But then you see these two sequential notes, that I think were released at the same time, and somehow someone missed that they had essentially the same design with different colors. But they are different colors - the P-40 is orange where the P-41 is purple. So very different colors; so they have that going for them at least.
This note is a bit of a rarity in my Zimbabwe collection in that it is a note I submitted for grading myself! I bought 3 raw bearer checks - one each of P-40, P-45 and P-46(b) and sent them into NGC with some traveler’s checks (P-15 to P-20) to fill in some holes in my collection. My gamble with self-submitting paid off in a big way with this note, which came back as a TOP POP 67 EPQ with only 1 other P-40 in that grade at the time.
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Slot: |
50 Dollars ZIM41 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 50 Dollars 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 67 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8047606-059
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Owner Comments
Operation Chikorokoza Chapera (“No Illegal Panning”) kicked off in November 2006 and saw more than 25,000 gold panners arrested according to some reports. The economy was in ruins. The unemployment rate had hit 80 percent. Operation Murambatsvina had made things worse by destroying small stalls and businesses and Operation Sunrise was getting some blame for destroying the savings of the people because of the seizure of “excess currency” and demonetizing any old 1st dollar notes that weren’t exchanged - but that currency was rapidly becoming worthless anyway. With all this going on “informal,” “artisanal” mining became one of the few ways for Zimbabweans to make money - and the goal of Chikorokoza Chapera was to shut that down.
In addition to the arrests, police set up roadblocks on all the main highways to Zambia, South Africa and Botswana - forcing people to “queue like goats and cows” and submit to “inhuman searches” to “recover” any gold being transported out of the country.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note would have had the same value as the P-26 $50,000 Cargill Bearer Checks, the P-19 $50,000 traveler’s checks and the P-28, P-29 and P-30 $50,000 Emergency Bearer Checks.
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.
These 100-dollar bearer checks (ZIM42) use the image of Victoria Falls. This image appears to be the same artwork that first appeared on the 1st dollar bearer checks series (P-28 through P-32). The image also appears on P-40 (20 ZWN). It looks like the image of Victoria Falls that appears on the 3rd dollar series might be a re-use of a very small segment of this same artwork, but the full image shown on the back of this not does not appear again after this note.
Victoria Falls is a waterfall in southern Africa on the Zambezi River at the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, Victoria Falls is classified as the largest, based on its combined width of 1,708 meters (5,604 feet) and height of 108 meters (354 ft), resulting in the world's largest sheet of falling water. Victoria Falls is roughly twice the height of Niagara Falls and well over twice the width of Horseshoe Falls. In height and width Victoria Falls is rivalled only by Argentina’s and Brazil's Iguazu Falls.
It always feels a bit careless and sloppy to get two sequential notes or designs in a Zimbabwe series that use the same back artwork. There was seemingly a deliberate effort to reuse the artwork but rotate between them and not just keep reusing the same design. But then you see these two sequential notes, that I think were released at the same time, and somehow someone missed that they had essentially the same design with different colors. But they are different colors - the P-40 is orange where the P-41 is purple. So very different colors; so they have that going for them at least.
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Slot: |
100 Dollars ZIM42 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 100 Dollars 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046920-036
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Owner Comments
The 2nd dollar was the currency of the nation when President Mugabe lost a national election in March 2008, and then refused to hand over power. This marked the beginning of a period that the people of Zimbabwe (and Peter Godwin in a book by the same name) called "The Fear." The government called it “Operation Mavhoterapapi” (“Who did you vote for”), which saw ZANU-PF insist that no candidate obtained the necessary majority and that a 2nd round of voting was required, while villages burned, torture camps were reported and widespread international sanctions were leveled against the Mugabe government. In this period, the man who had helped lead the country during the rebellion / independence movement and had led the country since independence in 1980 seemingly became worse to and for the country than anything he'd fought against. This period extended through the period of issue and use for the very short-lived third and fourth dollars.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note would have had the same value as the P-27 $100,000 Cargill Bearer Checks, the P-20 $100,000 traveler’s checks and the P-31 and P-32 $100,000 Emergency Bearer Checks.
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.
These 100-dollar bearer checks (ZIM42) use the image of some terraced hills that appeared first on the 5 dollar notes (ZIM5) of the re-designed 1st dollars in the mid-1990s. This design reappeared on ZIM44 (1000 ZWN), and ZIM54 (5 Million ZWN). After ZIM54 this artwork was not used again and did not reappear in the 4th dollar series like several of the other images that originated with the 1st dollars.
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Slot: |
500 Dollars ZIM43 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 500 Dollars 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046920-055
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Owner Comments
The 2nd dollar bearer checks are a very major part of the overall Zimbabwe note set. With 28 notes, they are the single largest set / series in the run of Zimbabwean notes and make up over 25% of the notes from ZIM1 to ZIM104 (as of 2021).
This is a bit unfortunate in that these are some of the most plain-looking, least visually striking series in the broader collection of notes (at least in my opinion). This is probably why I was a bit slow to incorporate these notes into my collection – the 3rd, 4th, and especially the 1st dollars are a lot more interesting to look at. Nevertheless, they are a very important part of the story of this set and this currency, and I love that story, so it is important to have these notes represented.
Something you'll notice as you look at these notes / bearer checks is that a remarkable sameness settles over the entire series. With the first dollars each note tends to have a very different look and feel to it. The emergency check issues of the 1st and 2nd dollars and notes in the 3rd and 4th dollar series, as far as the major design elements go, look the same and just have different numbers. The colors tend to change with each denomination, which makes it easier to tell them apart when dealing with large numbers of bills as the people of Zimbabwe were often forced to do. This is very true of both the 2nd dollar bearer checks series and the 3rd dollar banknotes. With the 2nd dollar bearer checks and 3rd dollar notes they usually changed the image(s) on the back with each new denomination, but they frequently reused images / artwork, both from prior series of notes (especially the 1st dollars’ artwork getting reused with the 2nd dollars) and from prior issues within the same series. With the 2nd dollar agro checks they pretty much just changed the denomination / numbers and the color and did not even bother to change the design on the back with each note.
With 1 ZWN being worth 1000 ZWD, this note was valued at 500,000 ZWD, making it the first 2nd Dollar Bearer Check that was worth more (after conversion) than any of the emergency issues released before the 1st dollar was retired.
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.
This note features the same artwork of the tiger fish and the Kariba dam that appears on the ZIM1, 2-dollar, 1st dollar banknote. That artwork also appears on the 10 million dollar (ZIM55) and 500 million dollar (ZIM60) bearer checks. 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.
This is one of five notes I got for Christmas in 2019 – the last set of additions in a year that became dedicated to building this set into what I had always dreamed and believed it could be.
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Slot: |
1,000 Dollars ZIM44 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 1000 Dollars 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046920-078
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Owner Comments
I spend a lot of time and words in these sets on talking about the need to consider the set as a whole and think about the story that the set represents and tells. When you think about it in the context of a book, most people – even most book collectors – wouldn’t have much interest in a single leaf from a book, even a famous or valuable book, unless it was something like the Gutenberg Bible. I think the situation is somewhat similar for many of the lower denomination 2nd dollar and 3rd dollar issues. It is relatively common to see dealers offering the entire 27-note 3rd dollar series, raw, as a set, or the entire 59-note run of the 2nd and 3rd dollars (from P-33 to P-91) as a set. It is seemingly less common to see merchants trying to market individual note from this run. When they are do, it is usually for a small amount or in bulk quantities. I think this fact supports my view of the set and shows that it is one that other collectors tend to share. These notes are a set. They are best appreciated and understood as a set that tells a story. You are either interested in that story and a fan of the series or you are not – in which case you buy the $100 Trillion note and call it a day or do not collect these notes at all. I love the story though, and so I bought this note and added it to what may be one of the biggest and most complete sets of PMG-graded Zimbabwe notes in existence.
With a 1000 to 1 exchange rate between the ZWD and the ZWN, this check had a value equivalent to 1 Million ZWD.
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.
These 1000-dollar bearer checks (ZIM44) use the image of some terraced hills that appeared first on the 5-dollar notes (ZIM5) of the re-designed 1st dollars in the mid-1990s. This design reappeared on ZIM42 (100 ZWN), and ZIM54 (5 Million ZWN). After ZIM54 this artwork was not used again and did not reappear in the 4th dollar series like several of the other images that originated with the 1st dollars.
This is one of five notes I got for Christmas in 2019 – the last set of additions in a year that became dedicated to building this set into what I had always dreamed and believed it could be.
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Slot: |
5,000 Dollars ZIM45 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 5000 Dollars 2007 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8087274-002
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Owner Comments
Another contemporary program / “Operation” from this period is “Operation Chipo Chiroorwa (“Ladies, Get Married”), which started / was announced in early March 2007. The nominal goal of this program was to rid urban areas of prostitutes by encouraging them to get married. The operation criminalized and arrested women seen out alone in the evening and charged them with loitering and soliciting.
I don’t know if this operation was launched in response to a perceived spike in prostitution, but, even if there was a spike, I doubt those in the government had the self-awareness to see their culpability in causing it. The stall / shop / business owners that saw their shops destroyed in 2005 under Operation Murambatsvina where disproportionately female according to some references. This program also launched only about 5 months after Operation Chikorokoza Chapera (“No Illegal Panning”) wiped out another alternative for earning a living in a wrecked economy. If you make it hard enough to earn a living to buy food, people will find a way.
But it should also be acknowledged that this program was not the first or the last in a long succession of programs with this same basic intent. Operation “Chinyavada” (“Scorpion”), aka Operation “Clean up,” had the same basic purpose and approach in 1983. There was another similar program in the 1986-1988 period, in the lead up to a visit from Pope John Paul II. There was another in 1991 in preparation for a visit from Queen Elizabeth II with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. There was another in January 2011 called Operation “Chengetedzai Hunhu” (“Maintain your dignity”) and Operation “No Loitering” in February 2013. There may have been some start-stopping, but I think you have to see the 2011 and 2013 programs as essentially direct continuations of the 2007 one and see the whole thing as one effort that lasted for at least 6-7 years - and that’s only if you don’t see the whole thing from 1983 to 2013 as one, long, continuous, 30-year targeting of unaccompanied women by the government and police.
With the message “get married,” Chipo Chiroorwa, in particular, was criticized for targeting unaccompanied women and not the men that were the clients / customers and for the patriarchal tone that suggested that women cannot - or should not - be independent. But I think that is clearly baked into all of these “Operations” and just a lot more explicit with the 2007 effort.
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.
On the back this note shows an image of Kariba dam, but it is not the same image that originated on P-1 (along with an image of a tigerfish) That artwork was re-used on the P-43, P-55, and P-60 in this series. The artwork on this note seems to be a re-use of the image on the back of the P-9, 100 ZWD note from the 2nd Series 1st Dollar notes. This note and the P-9 are the only notes I’m aware that use this artwork.
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.
This note is a bit of a rarity in my Zimbabwe collection in that it is a note I submitted for grading myself! I bought 3 raw bearer checks - one each of P-40, P-45 and P-46(b) and sent them into NGC with some traveler’s checks (P-15 to P-20) to fill in some holes in my collection. I was happy to score this 66 EPQ, gem-uncirc grade to help round out this set with a note that’s pretty much in line with / of the same quality as a lot of the rest of the set - I always tried to stay at least in the Gem Uncirc. (65+) range.
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Slot: |
10,000 Dollars ZIM46 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 10,000 Dollars 2006 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 68 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8091051-009
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Owner Comments
The difference between P-46a and P-46b is the spacing and grouping (or lack thereof) of the digits (zeros) in the denomination. P-46a has no space in the denomination and reads as “100000.” P-46b has a space between the “100” and the “000” in “100 000.” The P-46a is the rarer and more desirable variety. The P-46a is the rarer and more desirable variety. This change in the spacing impacts the P-48a/b and the P-46a/b. Interestingly though, even though they were released at the same time, this a/b variation did not hit the P-47, 50000 note - those just have the space in the denomination.
Consistent with this "no space" variety being something done on an initial print run and then changed later, all of the P-46a notes I've seen have had AA prefixes where the P-46b notes I've seen have been AJ, AN or other prefixes usually associated with later print runs.
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 this note features an image of the Great Zimbabwe ruins. This artwork first appeared on P-8 with the first dollar series. This artwork also appears on P-48 (100,000 ZWN), and P-50 (250,000 ZWN). The artwork is later revived in the 4th dollar series with P-94 (10 ZWL). The ruins also appeared in the 3rd dollar series, but the artwork does not appear to have been the same image or a piece of it.
The “Great Zimbabwe” Ruins are the largest collection of ruins in Sub-Saharan Africa. They were built between the 11th and 15th centuries and are located between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. This set of ruins is the largest set but not the only one. Smaller sites are located as far away as Mozambique. The structures are made of granite. They are a source of great national pride, however, they’ve been extensively plundered over time by treasure-hunters and others and this has complicated efforts to learn about the culture that built them – a culture apparently referred to as “Great Zimbabwe.”
I got this note as a present from my wife for our 6th anniversary in Jan 2022, only about a week after we found out that my Zimbabwean Coin Type Set in the NGC Registry had won one of the 2021 Best Presented Set awards. This note, coming as an anniversary present, continued what my wife started when she got me a Zimbabwean note to surprise me with a collectable for our 3rd anniversary in 2019, which is what got me back into building this collection in earnest.
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Slot: |
50,000 Dollars ZIM47 |
Item: |
Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank 50,000 Dollars 2007 - Wmk: Zimbabwe Bird |
Grade: |
PMG 66 EPQ |
Cert #: |
8046923-021
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Owner Comments
This note is interesting for the rather odd color mismatch on the front of the note. With the other notes in the series the note has a dominant / prevailing color that is used for most of the note, front and back. On most notes in the series all the lettering and the denomination are all in this same color. With these 50,000-dollar notes, the majority of the note is red and two of the three times the denomination is printed on the front of the note it is printed in the same red color. But the largest of the three is in a reflective blue ink that is not used anywhere else on the front or back of the note.
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 this note features an image of elephant at Victoria Falls. This appears to be the image used on the back of the ZIM4, $20 note of the 1st dollar series. This artwork also appears on P-52 (750,000 ZWN), and P-59 (250,000,000 ZWN).
Victoria Falls is a waterfall in southern Africa on the Zambezi River at the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, Victoria Falls is classified as the largest, based on its combined width of 1,708 meters (5,604 feet) and height of 108 meters (354 ft), resulting in the world's largest sheet of falling water. Victoria Falls is roughly twice the height of Niagara Falls and well over twice the width of Horseshoe Falls. In height and width Victoria Falls is rivalled only by Argentina’s and Brazil's Iguazu Falls.
This note is one of five of the notes in the 2nd dollar bearer check series that I got for my birthday in 2019.
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