# how do i get a $250 million (Zimbabwean dollar) bill **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645 "2008-07-24T19:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/21 "2008-07-25T04:19:59Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] I guess you won’t be wanting a [Freedom Tower Silver Dollar.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Tower_Silver_Dollar) It will never be released for circulation! [/QUOTE] Minted in the Principality Of Tackaragua! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/22 "2008-07-25T04:48:33Z")
[QUOTE=Scuba\_Ben] Dang, where can I get a 1 trillion Z$ note? [/QUOTE] I don’t think you can. It’s been in the news this week that they’ve just come out with a Z$100-billion note, which is right now equal to about US$5.34. But give them some time. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/23 "2008-07-25T05:05:37Z")
I have a couple of $1 million zaire notes with Mobutu Sese Seko on them, which was enough to buy a beer in Zaire in 1992. But it looks even easier to be a billionaire in Zimbabwe than it was to be a millionaire in Zaire back then. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/24 "2008-07-25T05:53:20Z")
I’ve said it a dozen times before, but I could sell you a Zimbabwe $10 note which was worth 2.5¢ when I was there. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/25 "2008-07-25T08:54:54Z")
With regards to the expiry date, notice that it says “Pay the bearer on demand” at the beginning of the text. My impression is that this phrase is a leftover of the days when paper money was actually backed by gold reserves of the issuing central bank. During this gilded age of the gold standard, the bearer of a banknote could actualy walk into the office of the bank and exchange the note for the “real money,” i.e. gold coins or bullion. Also notice that the note is styled a “bearer cheque.” That’s obsolete now - what would there be to exchange the bill for? Many central banks still put these sentences on their notes ( a prominent example would be the Bank of England), but I don’t think these phrases have any consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/26 "2008-07-25T11:16:26Z")
[QUOTE=Schnitte] With regards to the expiry date, notice that it says “Pay the bearer on demand” at the beginning of the text. My impression is that this phrase is a leftover of the days when paper money was actually backed by gold reserves of the issuing central bank. During this gilded age of the gold standard, the bearer of a banknote could actualy walk into the office of the bank and exchange the note for the “real money,” i.e. gold coins or bullion. Also notice that the note is styled a “bearer cheque.” That’s obsolete now - what would there be to exchange the bill for? Many central banks still put these sentences on their notes ( a prominent example would be the Bank of England), but I don’t think these phrases have any consequences. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure of this, but I think the Bank of England will still exchange its notes for gold at the current exchange rate, _provided you have enough to buy a whole gold bar._ As long as the notes bear the promise to pay, with the signature of the Chief Cashier, the Bank has to make at least some attempt to honour that promise. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/27 "2008-07-25T11:32:18Z")
Of course the Bank of England will sell you gold in exchange for cash, but that does not mean the currency is gold backed. In the classic gold standard, the gold parity of the currency is fixed by statute, and no matter when you come and demand that, you will always get the same amount of gold in exchange for the same amount in banknotes. You can still buy gold, but the rate is floating, so there is no gold backing because a devaluation of the pound will mean you’ll get less gold for your banknotes. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/28 "2008-07-25T11:36:03Z")
> **[Hyperinflation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation)** > > In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as they usually switch to more stable foreign currencies. When measured in stable foreign currencies, prices typically remain stable. Effective capital controls and currency substitution (“dollarization”) are the orthodox solutions to ending short-term hyperin The first picture, of a woman burning money, is great. Caption: _1923 Weimar Republic inflation: A German woman feeding a stove with Papiermarks, which burned longer than the amount of firewood people could buy with them._ ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/29 "2008-07-25T11:47:33Z")
[QUOTE=Schnitte] Also notice that the note is styled a “bearer cheque.” [/QUOTE] Some of the Zim banknotes on Ebay seem to be styled “special agro-cheques”. Does anyone know the significance of this? Are they spendable in the same way as “bearer cheques”? ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/30 "2008-07-25T15:06:26Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] I have a couple of $1 million zaire notes with Mobutu Sese Seko on them, which was enough to buy a beer in Zaire in 1992. But it looks even easier to be a billionaire in Zimbabwe than it was to be a millionaire in Zaire back then. [/QUOTE] I saw [this picture](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/images/2008/03/27/q1x00184_9.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/03/todays-photo-me.html&h=231&w=330&sz=28&hl=en&start=7&tbnid=LoyMitbVKkZflM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstarving%2Bbillionaire%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG) (or one very similar) in The Economist recently - an impressive sense of humor under the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/31 "2008-07-26T23:10:51Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] I’ll see your dinars and raise you [100,000,000,000,000,000,000](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:HUP_100MB_1946_obverse.jpg) pengő. Course, the bill doesn’t have all those zeroes, and is simply labeled as 100 million billion (US trillion) pengő. [/QUOTE] 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 is not a trillion in the U.S., it’s 100 quintillion. A trillion outside of the U.S. has 18 zeros, so that would be called 100 trillion outside of the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/32 "2008-07-27T00:14:22Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] I’ve said it a dozen times before, but I could sell you a Zimbabwe $10 note which was worth 2.5¢ when I was there. [/QUOTE] I’d buy one of those. Would you accept a pint at Elsie’s? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/33 "2008-07-27T01:19:23Z")
It seems to me the Zimbabwean government could make a lot of money by selling their banknotes online. Z$100 billion may be worth only US$5.34, but I’ll bet there’s a lot of people who’d be willing to pay 10 bucks just to have one, maybe even 20 bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/34 "2008-07-27T03:26:54Z")
The question in my (not very economics-smart) mind is, though, is there any way for a N.American person to make money through investment based on the economic situation in Zimbabwe? S^G ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/35 "2008-07-28T15:09:47Z")
[QUOTE=jasonh300] 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 is not a trillion in the U.S., it’s 100 quintillion. A trillion outside of the U.S. has 18 zeros, so that would be called 100 trillion outside of the U.S. [/QUOTE] You misunderstood (because of my ambiguity). The US trillion was explaining the “billion” on the note. In other words, one billion in Hungarian usage equals one US trillion. So, my sentence was saying 100 million billion pengo equals 100 million US trillion pengo. I admit, in retrospect, that this is not clear from my post. ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/36 "2008-07-28T15:28:07Z")
[QUOTE=Satellite^Guy] The question in my (not very economics-smart) mind is, though, is there any way for a N.American person to make money through investment based on the economic situation in Zimbabwe? S^G [/QUOTE] I don’t think so, not on paper or in transactions in any rate. If you can somehow acquire raw materials, ores, you know, actual stuff (commodities are best), you can pull it out of Zimbabwe and sell it elsewhere. Any transactional profit will be destroyed by inflation and cuts by middlemen, not to mention permits, fees and taxes. If you have enough money and convince enough people to believe in a banking system (including paying back creditors as well as taking out credit), you can get in on the ground floor of an extremely cheap labor force. However, you would have to install the power, roads, training, communication, and utilities yourself. You would also risk nationalization from the government. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/37 "2008-07-28T15:46:41Z")
[QUOTE=Satellite^Guy] The question in my (not very economics-smart) mind is, though, is there any way for a N.American person to make money through investment based on the economic situation in Zimbabwe? [/QUOTE] No. For investment purposes, unstable societies teetering on the brink of anarchy and civil war should be avoided. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/38 "2008-07-28T19:30:30Z")
Incidentally, I bought some Iraqi currency on eBay back in 2003 on a whim. I’d have to say that the envelope from the seller in Jordan was more interesting than the cash. Cheaply made money in perfect condition is not that cool. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/39 "2008-07-28T22:57:53Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] You misunderstood (because of my ambiguity). The US trillion was explaining the “billion” on the note. In other words, one billion in Hungarian usage equals one US trillion. So, my sentence was saying 100 million billion pengo equals 100 million US trillion pengo. I admit, in retrospect, that this is not clear from my post. [/QUOTE] I see what you’re saying, though you’re still not really being clear with that US in the middle of the number. In the U.S. 1 million trillion = 1 quintillion. The number in question is 100 quintillion. 100 quintillion is 100,000,000,000,000,000,000. Now we have that cleared up. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645/40 "2008-07-29T00:22:19Z")
[QUOTE=jasonh300] I see what you’re saying, though you’re still not really being clear with that US in the middle of the number. [/QUOTE] Yeah. I guess that’s why we have scientific notation. I was just trying to explain the writing on the bank note itself. I know that number is 100 quintillion in normal American usage, but the note itself said 100 million b-pengo, and I wanted to parse that out, which, in American usage, would be the equivalent of a note saying 100 million trillion pengo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-250-million-zimbabwean-dollar-bill/457645.md?page=1)