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 Replies: 7 / Views: 2,126 |
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Press Manager
 United States
1420 Posts |
PCGS - Monetary policy in Zimbabwe saw the value of the nation's coinage drop to virtually nothing as their unit of currency, the Zimbabwe dollar, went from being worth more then a United States dollar in 1980 to one United States dollar being worth over $300,000,000,000,000 (300 trillion) Zimbabwe dollars, following four revaluations. This would force the country to give up its fiat currency and legalize the practice that had already had long been accepted by the people, which is the use of foreign currency as a means of exchange. The government went on to adopt the United States dollar as its currency. With the use of United States dollars and bank account balances changing from Zimbabwean dollars to United States dollars at different rates depending on the deposit value, the African nation's currency finally stabilized and ended the out-of-control hyperinflation caused by the endless printing of Zimbabwe dollars.  Zimbabwe Bond Coins, including 2014 5c, 2014 10c, 2014 25c, 2017 50c, and 2017 $1. Click images to enlarge.While the United States dollar was the currency of choice in Zimbabwe, the need for small change for commerce for everyday transactions was now needed, as the purchasing power of the United States dollar is much greater than the previous currency. The use of South African rand had filled the gap, but the government of Zimbabwe issued its first coinage since 2003 with the release of bond coins in 2014 that handled the need for small change.  Check out coins from Zimbabwe on ebay. Read the Entire Article
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Moderator
Australia
16810 Posts |
The bond coins were not, and still are not, popular with the locals. The Mugabe kleptocracy might be gone, but the people of Zimbabwe simply no longer trust their government to produce money. The bond coins (and subsequent "bond notes") were widely seen as an attempt by the government to re-introduce a new currency by stealth. An allegation that was largely proven correct when the government in June 2019 did indeed mandate a "real time gross settlement" dollar, based on the "bond dollar", as the sole legal tender in Zimbabwe. The experiment failed (predictably), with the country reverting to the use of foreign money in March 2020. The bond coins no longer circulate, with their street value collapsing to 1/100th of their face value by mid-2020.
Perhaps as a sign of their unpopularity, the coins lack a clear indication of a country of origin. They do not say "Zimbabwe". The only mark of origin is the repeated "RBZ" motif on the obverse (?), which you would have to look up to discover that it stands for Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1610 Posts |
Once again thanks to CCFPress and Sap for posting some interesting coins and facts behind them.
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Moderator
United States
187908 Posts |
Very interesting!  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17905 Posts |
I was there in December 2019 and got the impression that the US dollar was the preferred currency, South African rand second and bond coinage a poor third. I got a 2 Bond Dollar coin while I was there:   At the time I was there, one US dollar was worth about 13 bond dollars. The lowest denomination I saw in use was the 25 cents, and most things in shops were rounded up to the nearest dollar. |
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Moderator
United States
187908 Posts |
Quote:
I got a 2 Bond Dollar coin while I was there: Very nice! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1275 Posts |
agree, very nice and interesting coin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
If the bond dollars were ever popular, they would be very easy to forge and that would probably make them very unpopular very quickly.
Does anyone know if they were counterfeited while they actually circulated? If so has anyone seen one? They look much easier to replicate than English pounds which were forged in massive numbers.
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Replies: 7 / Views: 2,126 |
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Posted 06/20/2021 5:46 pm
