Republic of Zimbabwe
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) released two new banknotes on 08.04.2024 with the denominations of 10 and 20 Zimbabwe Gold or ZiG. This new currency was launched on 05.04.2024 with the intention to release this in a full set which would also include the values of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 100 and 200 ZiG. The design for this series was supposed to be all the same, front and back, albeit different colours and denomination values. However, since then only two notes of 10 and 20 Zig have been released. It is not sure what will happen to the rest of the unissued notes. It is believed that some or all the remaining notes were printed.
Obviously, as we all know, RBZ decided to redesign this ZiG series with improved security features and to have them printed on better substrate. The reason for the redesign of the ZiG series was that there were complaints from the public about the poor quality of those 2024 notes issued and as such RBZ decided to redesign and reissue them again. The initial ZiG series was to cover all 8 denominations. It appears that this new ZiG series only comes in 5 denominations, without the lower 3 values of 1, 2 and 5 ZiG.
On 07.04.2026, RBZ released the first 3 notes of 10, 20 and 50 ZiG for circulation, and the remaining two notes, 100 and 200 ZiG will be released at a later date. The designs on all the five notes are not the same this time. On the front, each note depicts a wildlife animal of Zimbabwe and on the back, each note features a famous landmark of Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe banknotes have come a long way over the past 25 years or so. When the country experienced hyperinflation in the second half of 2000s and early 2010s, the people in Zimbabwe nicknamed their currency as the King of Funny Money. I am not sure if this title still holds in Zimbabwe, but since the 2000s, RBZ has issued more than 80+ banknotes of various denominations, ranging from 1 cent to 100 trillion dollars. Whilst the people in Zimbabwe were experiencing hyperinflation on an hourly or daily basis, these banknotes were in high demand for overseas collectors as these notes were very affordable due to their weak value and also a good opportunity for collectors to build up their collection too. Since then, a few of these notes are selling quite expensive, and because of this, various forgeries are also available in the market. If you are looking for these hyperinflation notes, especially those high value types (100 trillion) beware of the fakes!
Ten ZiG
Front - To the left is a standing Cape buffalo. The Cape buffalo is a native animal of eastern and southern Africa. To the right is an image of the Chiremba balancing rock formation. A couple of gold ingots are also printed on the bottom right corner
Back - The Malopo hills balance rock formation located in the Matobo National Park in southwestern Zimbabwe, about 35 kilometers south of the city Bulawayo. Bulawayo is the second-largest city in Zimbabwe.
Twenty ZiG
Front - Image of an elephant to the left. The Chiremba balancing rock formation is printed on the right. Two gold ingots at the bottom right corner.
Back - The main feature on the back is the image of Zimbabwe's new Parliament building. This building is located northwest of the capital city Harare. It is about 30 minutes drive from the city center of Harare. The new parliament is situated on 50,000 square meters of land. Construction for the new parliament building started in 2018 and completed in 2022.
Fifty ZiG
Front - A standing rhinoceros. The Chiremba balancing rock formation is printed on the right. Two gold ingots at the bottom right corner.
Back - An aerial view of Kabira dam. This is a massive hydroelectric dam built on the Zambezi River bordering between north of Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Kabira dam was built in 1959.
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