Catalog
20 000 Dollars Travellers Cheque
| Issuer | Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe |
|---|---|
| Year | 2003 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | First Dollar (1980-2006) |
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| Obverse description | The cheque is printed in olive-green and pink on a fine guilloche underprint. At centre, a circular vignette carries the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe seal with the Zimbabwe Bird motif, surrounded by the legend RESERVE BANK OF ZIMBABWE. Denomination panels reading ZW $20000 appear at upper left and upper right within ornate lathe-work cartouches, and the denomination in words, Twenty Thousand Zimbabwe Dollars, is set in bold green letterpress at lower left. Fields for the holder's countersignature, date, and the Acting Governor's printed signature appear across the lower portion, with the MICR encoded serial line running along the bottom edge. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in pink and cream, its entire surface covered with a dense, uninterrupted guilloche of fine concentric wave patterns forming a continuous lathe-work background with no central vignette or additional design elements, serving purely as a security underprint. |
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| Comments |
Zimbabwe's 2003 travellers cheque series was a direct response to acute cash shortages during the hyperinflationary spiral that was already dismantling the formal banking system. The Reserve Bank issued these in bearer-cheque format as a stopgap — legally equivalent to banknotes for most transactions but technically a different instrument, which allowed the central bank to skirt certain reserve requirements.
The 20,000 dollar denomination was enormous by 2003 standards but would be rendered trivial within months. Pick 18 is among the lower-denomination survivors of a series that would eventually extend into billions.