Catalog
5 Dollars
| Issuer | Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1980-1994 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Dollars (5 ZWD) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | RESERVE BANK OF ZIMBABWE $5 I promise to pay the bearer on demand FIVE DOLLARS for the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor SALISBURY 1980 |
| Reverse description | The central vignette, executed in fine intaglio engraving, shows two women engaged in the traditional pounding of grain at a large wooden mortar, set before a rural homestead with thatched-roof huts and a cultivated field receding into the background. The scene is framed by an elaborate guilloche border in green and olive tones. The denomination numeral 5 appears at both the left and right margins, with the issuer's name across the top. |
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| Comments |
Zimbabwe's inaugural banknote series, of which this is part, was issued immediately following independence in April 1980 — the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe itself had only just been constituted, replacing the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia. Thomas De La Rue printed the entire inaugural series in London, a common arrangement for newly independent states that lacked domestic printing infrastructure and needed internationally credible currency quickly.
The watermark remains the primary security feature — modest by later standards, but sufficient for a country whose economy in 1980 was still relatively stable. The hyperinflationary collapse that would eventually necessitate denominations in the trillions was still two decades away.