By the time this note was issued in 2008, Zimbabwe's inflation had long since made the denomination meaningless in practical terms. The ten billion dollar face value sounds extraordinary, but within weeks of issue it would struggle to buy a loaf of bread — the Reserve Bank was printing faster than the economy could absorb. Gideon Gono, whose signature appears here, had been publicly defending the bank's policies while simultaneously presiding over one of the fastest monetary collapses in recorded history.
Fidelity Printers, a domestic facility, handled production — a point worth noting because the chronic foreign currency shortages that caused the hyperinflation also made importing specialist printing materials increasingly difficult.
By the time this note was issued in 2008, Zimbabwe's inflation had long since made the denomination meaningless in practical terms. The ten billion dollar face value sounds extraordinary, but within weeks of issue it would struggle to buy a loaf of bread — the Reserve Bank was printing faster than the economy could absorb. Gideon Gono, whose signature appears here, had been publicly defending the bank's policies while simultaneously presiding over one of the fastest monetary collapses in recorded history.
Fidelity Printers, a domestic facility, handled production — a point worth noting because the chronic foreign currency shortages that caused the hyperinflation also made importing specialist printing materials increasingly difficult.