Catalog
50 000 Dollars Emergency Bearer Cheque
| Issuer | Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe |
|---|---|
| Year | 2006 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 000 Dollars (50 000 ZWD) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The central vignette presents a panoramic view of Victoria Falls (known in the Kololo language as Mosi-oa-Tunya, meaning 'The Smoke That Thunders'), with the Zambezi River visible at the base of the cascading falls. The composition is rendered in an engraved style typical of Zimbabwean currency issues of this period, with the waterfall mist and surrounding landscape providing the sole design element on an otherwise plain ground. |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Zimbabwe Bird watermark visible when held to light |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Zimbabwe's hyperinflationary spiral forced the Reserve Bank into repeated emergency issuances throughout 2006 — this bearer cheque series was never intended as permanent currency but as a stopgap instrument with a fixed expiry date, redeemable only within a defined window before becoming legally worthless. The use of bearer cheque nomenclature was a bureaucratic workaround to sidestep statutory limits on note issuance that still technically applied to the Reserve Bank at the time.
Fidelity Printers and Refiners, the state-owned security printer in Harare, produced the entire run domestically — a significant detail given that Zimbabwe had previously relied on foreign security printers before hard currency shortages made those contracts untenable.