Gradually, Then Suddenly
ZIM78, 2008, 10 Million ZWR

Slot Comment:

3rd Dollar Banknote AA Prefix - $10,000,000

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Note Details

  

Set Details
Note Description: 10 Million Dollars 2008
Grade: 67 EPQ
Country: Zimbabwe
Note Number: ZIM78
Signatures/
Vignettes: 		- Sign. #8
Certification #: 8046939-083
Owner: Revenant
Set Category: World
Set Name: Gradually, Then Suddenly
Slot Name: ZIM78, 2008, 10 Million ZWR
Research: See PMG's Census Report for this Note

Owner's Description

The release of this banknote was announced on 3 Dec 2008.

About a week before this note and its cohorts (ZIM79 and ZIM80) were released a Southern African Development Community (SADC) tribunal ruled on 28 Nov 2008 that the expropriation of farms from 78 farmers (see P-5 descriptions for more on the land seizure program and its consequences) was illegal. However, none of the countries that are part of the SADC were willing to do anything to enforce the ruling and the response from the Mugabe government, per a January 2009 article from the South African “Digital Journal,” was to send men out to assault 5 of the farmers that participated in the suit. The article from the Digital Journal also cites an example where a 400-hectare farm was seized and the government allowed all but 5 hectares of it to sit fallow and unused, which probably goes a long way towards explaining why agricultural production dropped by over 40% after the farm expropriations started.

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 Million dollar banknote features an image of Anglican St Mary’s Cathedral and the Parliament Building, and an image of the Great Zimbabwe ruins. The image of the Cathedral and Parliament Building also appears on ZIM71 (1000 ZWR), and ZIM81 (200 Million 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), ZIM79 (50 Million ZWR), ZIM87 (50 Billion ZWR), ZIM86 (20 Billion ZWR) and ZIM88 (10 Trillion ZWR).

St. Mary’s Cathedral is the oldest church in Zimbabwe, located in Bulawayo. The foundation stone was laid in 1903, by Jesuits. The original Jesuit mission had been started in 1879. In 2013 – after this note was printed and Zimbabwe suspended its currency – it became the first Minor Basilica in the SADC (South Africa Development Community).

The Parliament building that is shown in this note is the historical building that the Parliament has been in and should not be confused with the new one that Zimbabwe started building in 2018 and which was still being built in 2021. This old structure is right next to the Cathedral, dates to the late 1800s/early 1900s and actually started its existence as a hotel before it was sold to the governing organization at the time. Isn’t history funny?

See ZIM8 for more discussion on the Great Zimbabwe Ruins.

This is one of three new notes I got from my wife for this set (Zimbabwe collection overall, not just 3rd dollars) for Father’s day in 2019.

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