Visitors snap up 100 trillion dollar Zimbabwe bank notes

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/January/international_January66.xml§ion=international



(AP)

2 January 2011,

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Western visitors to Zimbabwe are looking for zeros. They’re snapping up old, defunct Zimbabwe bank notes, most notably the one hundred trillion Zimbabwe dollar bill, as an economic souvenir.

The one hundred trillion Zimbabwe dollar bill, which at 100 followed by 12 zeros is the highest denomination, now sells for $5, depending on its condition. That bill and others — among them millions, billions and trillions, were abandoned nearly two years ago, when the American dollar became legal tender in the hopes of killing off the record inflation that caused all those zeros.

‘I had to have one,’ said Janice Waas on a visit to the northwestern resort town of Victoria Falls. ‘The numbers are mind bending.’ She got her so-called ‘Zimdollar’ in pristine condition, from a street vendor who usually sells African carvings.

‘It’s perfect if you like puzzles, calculus and things like Rubik’s Cube,’ she said.

Janice’s husband Thomas Waas, a physicist and engineer from Germany, said if the population of the world is 7 billion people, every single person could be a given thousands of old Zimbabwe dollars from this single 100 trillion note.

[CJvR]

1. That 5$...

...is probably more than the bill was worth when it was in use.

[Posteritatis]

2. Yep, it was

The moment the $1.0x10¹⁴ bill - I can't believe I just typed that - came out it was worth about $30US, but since the inflation rate was itself undergoing hyperinflation the entire value would have vanished in hours rather than days. The day after it was announced it was probably worth a couple of dollars.

[madrchsod]

5. neither can i...i have no idea how one types that

[xor]

3. Not sure why, but I want one.

[madrchsod]

4. i think you can buy/bid bundles on ebay..

[CJvR]

6. Well...

...unless the Zimbabweans have put the money to better use before it becam a novelty sovenir.

Hey money is cheaper than firewood...

[Riftaxe]

7. Hmmm I wonder if there will be a market

for Venezuela currency soon, since that country has chosen the Zimbabwe route of inflation.

[CJvR]

8. I doubt that...

...with the oil income it should be practically impossible for Venezuela to implode in the way Zimbabwe did.

[Posteritatis]

10. The Zimbabwe route of inflation takes a special kind of ineptitude

Only a few countries in the last century have gotten that bad; Hungary wound up with more ridiculous currency at one point, but you'd pretty much have to try to maintain the kinds of inflation rates Zimbabwe had. I've seen graphs of the conversion rates; they were exponential climbs on logarithmic graphs.

[FLPanhandle]

9. I would have liked to have some to put in Christmas cards

They'd make great novelty gifts.

[derby378]

11. I've got mine

I don't think I paid more than five bucks for the note to begin with. And it's still in pristine condition, I think.

[NNN0LHI]

12. Brother, can you spare a trillion?

[derby378]

14. If only I could...

It staggers me to think what the world's first trillionaire could do.

She could ensure that every single child throughout Africa has access to clean drinking water and at least one year of education.

She could revitalize the Appalachians with steady, sustainable jobs and a good economy - no more mountaintop removal.

Then again, she could blow it all by purchasing real estate in Dubai, the poor kid...

[adamuu]

13. so much arithmetic, so few physicists. n/t