Zimbabwean Coinage Discussion.

Here's another section that will appeal to history buffs.This is about
the coins of the Republic of Zimbabwe.After Zimbabwe gained independence in April 1980 as a Republic within the British Commonwealth,the Rhodesian coins were rapidly withdrawn,& replaced by a new series of Zimbabwean coins,which included the following denominations - 1c.,5c.,10c.,20c.,50c.,& $1.The Zimbabwe bird,which appears in Southern Rhodesian & Rhodesian heraldry,is the symbol derived from a soapstone sculpture that was found at the Zimbabwe ruins,was chosen to symbolise the regime of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.
In 1982,the decline of Zimbabwe's internal situation began to set in when Robert Mugabe (who was then Prime Minister) began to encourage his militants to slaughter thousands of innocent men,women & children
in Matabeleland,in an effort to crush opposition to his Communist policies.In 1989,the bronze 1c. coin was replaced with a copper-plated
steel 1c. coin.In 1997,the $2 coin was introduced.The highest denominated Zimbabwean coin - the bimetal $5 coin,which depicts a rhino was introduced in 2001.Coins are reported for the year 2002,but these cannot currently be confirmed,as the security situation is very dangerous.Robert Mugabe (who kicked out President Banana & abolished the Prime Minister's post in 1987 to become the executive President) in a fit of insanity announced to the Zimbabwean Parliament that Zimbabwe was being unilaterally pulled out of the British Commonwealth
in December 2003 in protest at international condemnation of the Z.A.N.U.-P.F. regime's barbaric policies.The value of the Zimbabwean Dollar has been plummetting for years,so the coins eventually disappeared from circulation as a result.Zimbabwean coins are now very
difficult for collectors to obtain,even though Krause's prices are ridiculously low.

Aidan.