100 000 Zaïres

By 1992, the Zaïre had collapsed so thoroughly that 100,000 of them was a mid-range denomination, not a large one. Mobutu's government had been printing money to cover deficits since the late 1980s, and annual inflation had surpassed 4,000 percent. The currency was so worthless that workers in some regions refused wages in zaïres and demanded payment in foreign exchange or goods.

Giesecke & Devrient supplied notes to Kinshasa throughout this period despite the obvious futility — the presses could not keep pace with the devaluation cycle. A 500,000-zaïre note followed within a year.