$100 Billion dollar note.

Its actually sad a beautiful contry like this has had so many problems. Check out the following link. I think I maight have to get on on ebay if I see one. Just the fact of having a $100 billion dollar note is kinda cool.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/07/19/zimbabwe.banknotes/index.html

 

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Dang. Inflation rate of 2.2 Million percent. Sounds like the German Marks back around WWII time

 

Or the Hungarian pengo. Zimbabwe's still got a ways to go before they catch up with the all-time record for absurdly-denominated inflation banknotes; Hungary issued a note for 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 pengo in 1946. Yes, that number has twenty zeroes.

 

Wonder what it would be like making change . . . Lol :mouth:

 

wow!

 

Do a 5 year exchange comparison on the USA dollar vs. the €uro, pretty sad too.

 

Huh? The hyperinflation in the German Reich ended in 1923. Nothing like that during WW2, as the nazi government controlled most prices and kept them "artificially" low ...

Actually a "100 billion" mark note was issued in fall 1923. Except that a German billion is an English trillion.

Christian

 

Been collecting hyperinflation notes lately and one thing that keeps coming up is that a lot of countries used to (and some still do) use the "long form" of counting, where 1000 million is 1 milliard and 1 million million is a billion, and so forth. The US uses what most are familiar with, where 1000 million = 1 billion, 1000 billion = 1 trillion, etc. The UK and most of the rest of the English-speaking world adopted that method eventually. A lot of Europe still used the long form method up until recently (I have a Yugoslavian note denominate 500,000,000,000 dinars that called it 500 millard rather than 500 billion).

The highest nominal denomination of any piece of paper currency was a 1946 Hungarian note denominated 100 million billion pengo (that's long form; spelled out it is 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 pengo, or in short form, 100 quintillion pengo!). One was printed 10 times higher than that even, but Hungary switched over to the forint before it was due to be released.

Most zeroes on any note actually released was a 1993 Yugoslavian 500,000,000,000 dinar note; there have been higher denominations but any higher have been denominated just by words and not had the numerals spelled out.

 

Probably because such terms are, in many cases, language specific - what applies to English does not necessarily apply to French or German for example. Don't think there is any trend or intention here in Germany to "adopt" the English sense of the term. Maybe also because in scientific use (where agreeing on one standard would be more important) exponentiation is common anyway. The only reason why I addressed the different usage in German and English is that on Weimar Republic hyperinflation notes you would usually see the word "Billion", not the many zeroes.

The digits make it easier to understand the value in other countries but are probably much more difficult to "grasp" at a glance than, say, the value of that Yugoslavian word you mentioned. Interestingly, when Turkey still had the "old" lira, they issued coins with low numbers and (what I first thought was) the currency name "bin lira". Then I learned that "bin" just means "thousand". Duh.

Christian

 

Well the other languages would usually have their languages' equivalent of "milliard" rather than "billion," and regardless of the language the words for the numbers were usually derived from the same place.

Numbers of that magnitude are used scientifically more than anything else, and you're right that in that case they'd just use sceintific notation then which removes any ambiguity as to what number is meant. In the popular press the US uses short form (1000 million = 1 billion) and the UK and the rest of the English speaking world followed suit eventually.

Interestingly enough, Japanese and Korean actually count by 10,000's rather than millions when it comes to large numbers... 1 million would be rendered as 100 * 10,000 for example.

 

It is sad the poor folks who live over in Zimbabwe must be having a terrbile time.

 

Seems there are three "classes" of people in Zimbabwe now: Those who are in (or have good contacts to) the Mugabe government; those who have "valuable" goods or foreign currency that they can use - and those who have nothing but the worthless money. 120 billion dollars for an overland bus ticket in the morning ... and more than twice as much for the ride back the next day. :rolling:

Christian

 

not much different to what we have in the US... the Rich, the middle class, and the poor. Zimbabwe only names the classes different. Whats worse for Zimbabwe is that 1- most of the country is poor, even alot of the merchants who have goods to sell. and 2- unlike the US where there is alot of help to improve ones statue in any class, with all the chaos Zimbabwe is going thorugh, i doubt there is much help for people to improve themselves.

 

Wow, did you see the prices these notes are going for on eBay? A $50 billion note (worth 50 cents US) is already up to $86 and there's almost two days left in the auction.

Someone has an opportunity to make some real money here... crazy.

 

I think some enterprising people in Zimbabwe have a real opportunity to take advantage of the fact that these notes are worth much more to collectors than they can possibly get by spending them. I'm quite sure a few are in fact doing just that...

 

In this case, i really hope so. In this instance, i dont think its folks (like those who may be selling bulk notes of the old Iragi currency- which is obsolete) who are trying to rip folks off, but just regular joe's who have discovered currency collectors are suckers lol

 

Ah, the time of the many zeros will soon be over ... for a while. As from 1 August, Zimbabwe will have a "New Dollar". Ten billion old dollars will then be one New Zimbabwe Dollar.

Christian

 

well, that will make it a bit easier to talk about denominations from there less typing with all them zeros.

I guess i shall wait until after that date to buy some eh'? Folks will want to get rid of them fast to get the new notes .... or... maybe i should get them now .... doh!

Chrisild, do you know if Zimbabwe has their inflation issues under control, and thus the reason for the new issuance? or are they just trying to put up false hopes?

 

I wonder where they're going to buy the paper to print this from? The German government forced G&D to stop shipments of paper to Zimbabwe, now the suspects are Malaysia and China.

I heard somewhere they even have a toilet paper shortage, perhaps they could just print up toilet paper and give the currency a useful purpose for a change.

 

Not least because of the inflation rate.

Zimbos* would do anything to get a leader like George Bush...who is a regular Mother Teresa next to Muggo.



(*I think that's what they're called or I may have imagined it)


ZIM $10,000,000,000 = $5, £2.50, €3.20