5 Dollars

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.