Zimbabwe Checklist?

Interesting history. Mugabe after essentially eliminating all opposition went ahead with what's called land reform. Rich farm lands were to be repatriated to those who were the original inhabitants, for the most part, his cronies. It was racial in nature because the farms were owned and operated by the descendants of the original European settlers to the area. Farming made up 30% of the gdp; breadbasket of Africa. Unfortunately those that seized the land didn't know a thing about farming and there went enough of the economy to hurl the country into economic crisis. Soon production stopped, goods cost more, the value of the currency plummeted, Mugabe et al were stubborn, didn't take control and kept moving ahead with land reform. In the end 100 trillion dollar bank notes were laying in the street, worth nothing more than toilet paper. My family wasn't there for that thank god, but we followed it right to where it is now. Back in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) They use the U.S. Dollar now, when they can get it. And to think, when Mugabe was seizing control, the world viewed him as a Nelson Mandela. The way we view it, Nelson mandela's actions were dictated by love while Mugabe's actions were dictated by hate.

Do I have a Rhodesia and Zimbabwe currency collection? Absolutely.

Great notes. Was never big on Recording catalogue numbers on these, if I don't have one I just grab it. Not even overly worried about the condition on these. You'll notice the higher the denomination the more crisp they are, because of the fact that when the later hyper inflation happened, people saw no value in them for spending and became essentially useless for everyday purchases and necessities.

Try to find a well circulated 100 trillion! A lot rarer than the crisp unc ones. Another point of interest is, the U.S. Currency is circulated so much, because there is so little of it in Rhodesia and it's used so much that it has to be cleaned and washed and hung to dry. Some of the most circulated notes I've ever seen. Dirty wrinkly us bills. Circulating currency speaks for the society.

Definitely interested in your photos!

I also have a few arriving this week, hopefully.

The rocks are the central bank's emblem. And for the bearer checks, they're the 2006 incarnation of one of the three stages of re numeration, or redenominiation.

Ironically yes, It does still exist, however it's basically a ghost central bank. it really has no purpose, because there is no Zimbabwe currency anymore, without a currency, a central bank should not exist, furthermore, It brings forth the discussion of how sovereign a country is without a currency. the Zim reserve bank should be done away with or recreated if there is ever any hopes of future faith in any paper they issue.

as I mentioned, the circulating currency is primarily U.S. dollar, as well as the South African rand, and anything that's relatively stable. Bitcoin is used widely, believe it or not.

In regards to putting politics aside, Zim banknotes can't be understood without examining the underlying policies of the party in power, or the monetary policies brought forth as a reactionary measure to those policies.

It's fair to say that the Zimbabwe dollar is the likely the most politically charged currency ever created. A point of interest, one of the later Zim central bank governors was highly critical of the land reform policies; the main cause of the hyperinflation, but his concerns fell on deaf ears.

More recent $Z pickups. Anyone know what the "02022909" that's featured prominently on many of the checques means?

In the mail today -- P45-P48, P51, P53, P54, P78:



It's hard to tell from the photo but the 50k bearer cheque has sparkly purple ink for the large "50000" in the upper right-hand corner.

Man, is that ever a nice collection, really coming along! My favourite was always the 500 zebra. Certainly the most appealing note they released. Forgot about that one! Good for you for discovering the series and grabbing all you can. Best of luck!