The Zimbabwe Dollar – It’s Worth Less Than Monopoly Money!
The Zimbabwe Dollar is a bizarre monetary beast – I went to Zimbabwe in 2002, when $USD1 was ‘only’ worth $Z600 (on the black market) and I had somehow managed to score a $Z1 coin in change, which is shown below:
In 2008, the Zimbabwe Government issued a $Z 500,000,000,000 (500 billion) Dollar note, which was worth about $USD1 – reflecting the hyper inflation of 230 million % – thanks to Mr Bob Mugabe (check out the hyperlink and parody site, it’s hilarious).
It would have been more cost effective to blow my nose or wipe my arse with Zimbabwe currency (imagine going to the toilet with 500 billion Zimbabwe Dollars) rather than invest it on a handkerchief or toilet roll.
The Zimbabwe currency even reached the dizzying hights of a 100 trillion dollar note! I would have been tempted to hand this over to the United States Federal Reserve to see if I could score any change in US Dollars!
Zimbabwe Dollar Mathematics!
The Zimbabwe $1 coin shown above would therefore be worth approximately $USD0.000000000002 in 2008! Which means that the metal in the Zimbabwe Dollar coin would be worth more than the face value! Hence, the Zimbabwe Dollar is the world’s most ridiculous, worthless and useless currency.
It’s like watching inflation happen in real time!
More Zimbabwe Dollar Stuff!
If you want to reminisce where the Zimbabwe Dollar was in single digits – you can buy a Zimbabwe 1983 vintage 2 Dollar note! That must have seen like another era for the locals!
Or how about a Zimbabwe 100 Trillion Dollar Bank Note!
Other things to do in Zimbabwe after marvelling at the worthlessness of the Zimbabwe Dollar – well, most people now go to Zambia.
For more reading on Zimbabwe, check out Zimbabwe: Picking Up the Pieces, A Predictable Tragedy: Robert Mugabe and the Collapse of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe: Years of Hope and Despair.
Anyway, the Zimbabwe Dollar was abandoned in 2009 for the US dollar. Calculators of the world are now much safer from the hyperinflation effects!
That is insanity. I knew their currency was going down the toilet, but I had no idea it was that bad. I’m not surprised that they’ve gone to the American dollar. I have a hard time wrapping my head around economics and currency, but this is crazy!
No calculator is immune from the Zim dollar!
OMG don’t you just love some foreign currencies! It’s a never ending math game! I love countries that are fixed with the dollar or 2 to 1 like Belize!
Yes, it makes it so much easier!
I really want the trillion dollar note. I could try to pay for a drink at a bar with it. And really, China owns enough in Zimbabwe, why don’t they just adopt the Yuan instead?
You just never know your luck if you try bringing a few Yuan in – have a punt!