Zimbabwe Checklist?

Thanks Nqdawa! You rock!

This information will definitely assist. I see very subtle differences in those serial numbers... that's going to be a difficult one to eyeball from an online auction. I guess they're relatively inexpensive enough that I can buy a few and stare/compare.

And your image of p5a/b seems to confirm that I have the intaglio (p5b). Did you mean top left "5" on the reverse? The reverse top right "5" has purple shadowing whereas the top left one looks like the P5b photo you posted.

Some of the older notes actually look very eye-appealing. I also appreciate the history of these notes and the lessons we can learn from simple pieces of paper. One of my favorite facts about these notes comes from the fact that there was a changeover involving more inflation midway through a print so the watermark for some notes bears the denomination that would have been printed (500).

Excellent information, Nqdawa! Did you find this in the $Z catalog you're using? Which one is it, if you don't mind me asking?

Based on your information, I have the 12b and 5b. Knowing the serial prefix will GREATLY simplify shopping for these online. Thank you!

I did too, just last night in fact. I have the P5a and P12a coming with my order.

I think I'm going to pay $10 for the $Z catalog that I found online last night. I forget now who publishes it but it's a subscription service.

edit: Found it in my search history: The Banknote Book.

Yep, that's the one I'm going to purchase.... my only dilemma is do I purchase just the $Z guide for $10 US or do I purchase a subscription and get everything? I don't (currently) collect any other world notes, so I'll probably just do the $Z guide and consider a full subscription later.

I got my p5a and p12a in today.

1997 $5 (P5a): This is the light brown lithographed back (vs Intaglio of P5b).
2003 $10,000 (p12a): This is the "Large Digits" version (vs, of course the "Small Digits" version).





So it's really hard to tell from an ebay auction what you're getting, but the seller I bought from is trustworthy. You can clearly see the difference between the light brown (P5a, bottom) and dark brown (P5b, top) reverses in the photo below.



And you have to look closely but the W's are different in this photo below. The W is narrower in the bottom one (P12b) than it is in the top one (P12a).



And, as Ngdawa mentioned before, you can take the guesswork out of it by using the following:



Thanks, Ngdawa!

2016 $2 and $5 bond notes below. Good-looking notes but I'll be amazed if they aren't worth the paper they're printed on in just a few short months, rather than the USD they are allegedly pegged to.