The banknotes of Zimbabwe are the physical forms of Zimbabwean currency, including the dollar ($ or Z$) and the ZiG. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has issued most of the banknotes and other types of currency notes in its history, including bearer cheques and special agro-cheques ("agro" being short for agricultural) that circulated from September 2003 until December 2008, and bond notes from November 2016 until November 2019: Standard Chartered Zimbabwe also circulated their own emergency cheques from June 2003 to September 2004.
The first Zimbabwean banknotes were rolled out for the first dollar between July 1981 an April 1982, and replaced those of the Rhodesian dollar at par: banknotes (and later bearer cheques) of the first dollar circulated until August 2006, when they were replaced by bearer cheques of the second dollar due to high inflation (which escalated into hyperinflation in March 2007). Cheques (and later agro-cheques) of the second dollar were itself replaced by banknotes of the third dollar in August 2008, which were itself replaced by those of the fourth dollar in February 2009. The power-sharing government of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai abandoned the Zimbabwean dollar in April 2009, and banknotes of the third and fourth dollars were demonetised in September 2015 after over 6 years of disuse. Zimbabwean banknotes were reintroduced in November 2016, initially in response to a shortage of hard currency.
The main feature on the front of Zimbabwean banknotes is an illustration of the Domboremari near Epworthone of the many balancing rocks of Zimbabwe: the Domboremari also appeared on bearer and agro-cheques, as part of the Reserve Bank's logo. The back often shows the culture or landmarks of the country. Banknotes issued between September 2008 and April 2009 (for the third and fourth dollar) lacked modern security features, due to sanctions against the Zimbabwean government and the Reserve Bank at the time.
History The first banknotes of Zimbabwe were issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (formerly Reserve Bank of Rhodesia) for the first dollar (ZWD) in 1980 to coincide with the independence of Zimbabwe. These notes replaced the circulating banknotes of the Rhodesian Dollar at par. The first series of banknotes ranged from to , and carried the signature of Dr. Desmond Krogh, then the last Governor of the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia from 1973. From 1994 to 1997 the Reserve Bank issued a new series of notes ranging from to , although the banknote was withdrawn and replaced by a coin in 1997. As rising inflation started to affect the purchasing power of the Zimbabwean Dollar, the and banknotes were issued from 2001 to 2005 with enhanced anti-counterfeiting measures.
In May 2003, the Reserve Bank allowed the Cargill Cotton Group to issue emergency bearer cheques to cotton farmers, via a Standard Chartered Zimbabwe branch in Harare: Cargill issued these cheques due to a shortage of money caused by high annual inflation, which according to The Herald, was around 269.2% in June 2003. The Reserve Bank later issued special traveller's cheques on 8 August 2003, with six denominations ranging from to : the traveller's cheques were short-lived and unpopular, because they could only be used once, the user needed to present proof of identification when using the cheques, and the banks levied a commission fee on the use of the cheques.
The Reserve Bank eventually issued their own Bearer cheques on 26 September 2003, with denominations ranging from to . These, and subsequent issues of the first and second dollars were time limited and lacked sophisticated anti-counterfeiting measures which were heavily used in many modern banknotes such as those of the Swiss Franc. In the first half of 2006 new denominations of and were issued, with the million denomination being planned for September 2006; it was subsequently never issued.
The time limits were either ignored or extended by multiple decrees, meaning that all notes of these issues remained legal tender in practice until 21 August 2006.
On 1 August 2006 the banknotes of the second dollar (ZWN), with less elaborate designs, replaced those of the first dollar at the ratio of 1 000 to 1. The redenomination (codenamed Operation Sunrise) was heavily publicised under the banner Zero to Hero, but was also rapid and disorganised which resulted in many people being unable to convert their old Bearer cheques to new issues before the lapse date, The Reserve Bank Governor Dr. Gideon Gono said that "10 trillion (first dollars) were still out there and it had become manure".
Further denominations ranging from to million were issued in the period between August 2006 and May 2008 as cent cheques quickly became outmoded. In the second quarter of 2008, special agro-cheques (agricultural cheques) were issued in denominations ranging from billion to billion as the currency exchange rate was floated. Since the functions were similar to Bearer cheques, it was in regular use as prices continue to rise. These cheques also carried time limits and limited security features. In the final months of the second dollar, the cheque was the lowest legal tender denomination by decree, despite having its expiry date extended twice. The Bearer Cheque would have been the lowest legal tender denomination in circulation had the expiry dates of currency cheques been enforced without extension, with the billion agro-cheque being the highest whether or not the note was legal tender.
Munich-based security printers Giesecke & Devrient ceased providing banknote paper to the Reserve Bank on 1 July 2008 in response to an official request from the German government and widespread calls for sanctions; The Jura JSP software end-user licence, issued to the state-owned Fidelity Printers & Refiners was also terminated on 24 July 2008 for similar reasons although the official press statement quoted that it was de facto impossible to prevent the printers from using the software.
On 1 August 2008 the banknotes of the third dollar (ZWR), which were printed for the abandoned second phase of the 2006 redenomination, replaced the cheques of the second dollar at the ratio of 10 billion (1010) to 1. The bearer and agro-cheques of the second dollar were phased out along with the smaller denominations of the third dollar on 1 January 2009. Despite the reform, the Reserve Bank issued several high-value denominations up to trillion ($1014) in the period between September 2008 to January 2009, which merely kept in similar pace with the cash rate instead of the black market rates.
On 2 February 2009, banknotes of the fourth dollar (ZWL) were introduced to replace those of the third dollar at the ratio of one trillion (1012) to 1. It was originally envisaged that banknotes of the third dollar would stay legal tender until 30 June 2009, but all banknotes were withdrawn from circulation following the suspension of the Zimbabwe dollar on 12 April 2009.
In 2019, regular Zimbabwean dollar notes were issued again and the use of foreign currency was banned, although the ban was lifted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Banknotes of the first dollar (1981–2006)
The obverse of the first two series of banknotes featured a dominant motif of the Domboremari, surrounded by trees: the notes also featured major landmarks and landscapes on either side, such as the Kariba Dam and fauna. When high inflation escalated at the end of the 20th century, the quality of the notes deteriorated as printing plates from previous issues were reconstituted for printing emergency notes. Although sustained high inflation forced regular banknotes ($2 to ) out of practical use, all banknotes and bearer cheques of the first dollar remained legal tender until the Reserve Bank demonetised them on 21 August 2006.
1980 banknote series
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe prepared the first series of banknotes for the newly-independent country in 1980, and released them into circulation in stages, from 15 April 1981 to 14 April 1982. The 1980 series consisted of four denominations: $2, $5, $10 and $20and made extensive use of the Guilloché technique, a security feature common on many banknotes from the 1980s. The watermark consisted of a profile view of the Zimbabwe Bird, but the final batches of $2 and $5 notes, both dated 1994, had a ¾ view of the bird with a longer neck.: Zimbabwean Bird Watermark Varieties The colour scheme also changed from the Rhodesian notes: the $2 note changed from red to blue, $5 from brown to green, $10 from grey to red, and the $20 note that debuted with this series was navy blue.
Banknotes dated 1980 bore Salisbury as the name of Zimbabwe's capital, which renamed itself to Harare on 18 April 1982: $5, $10 and $20 notes dated 1982 and later bore the updated name, but early batches of $10 notes dated 1982 erroneously bore the capital's old name. There were no $2 notes dated 1982: those dated 1983 and later had the updated name of the capital. Notes dated 1980 and 1982 carried the signature of Desmond Krogh, the last governor of the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia, and governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe until 1983: notes dated 1983 had the signature of Kombo James Moyana (governor from 1983 to August 1993), and notes dated 1994 had the signature of Leonard Tsumba (August 1993 to 31 July 2003).
+1980 series (Signatures: Dr. D.C. Krogh (1980 and 1982), K. Moyana (1983), L.L. Tsumba (1994); Capital: Salisbury, later Harare)PickNo.ImageValueDimensionsMain colourDescriptionDate ofObverseReverse Obverse Reverse Watermark printing issue withdrawal1a$2134 × 69 mm Blue Domboremari with trees, Cape buffalo, Salisbury as capital, Krogh as signatureTigerfish, Kariba DamZimbabwe Bird (profile angle, short neck) 198015 July 198121 August 20061b Domboremari with trees, Cape buffalo, Harare as capital, Moyana as signature 19831cDomboremari with trees, Cape buffalo, Harare as capital, Tsumba as signature19941d Zimbabwe Bird (¾ profile, medium neck)2a$5140 × 73 mm Green Domboremari with trees, zebra, Salisbury as capital, Krogh as signatureFarm workers in a villageZimbabwe Bird (profile angle, short neck) 198014 October 198121 August 20062b Domboremari with trees, zebra, Harare as capital, Krogh as signature 19822c Domboremari with trees, zebra, Harare as capital, Moyana as signature 19832dDomboremari with trees, zebra, Harare as capital, Tsumba as signature19942e Zimbabwe Bird (¾ profile, medium neck)3a$10146 × 77 mm Red Domboremari with trees, sable antelope, Salisbury as capital, Krogh as signatureHarare, Eternal Flame at the National Heroes' AcreZimbabwe Bird (profile angle, short neck) 198015 April 198121 August 20063b Domboremari with trees, sable antelope, Salisbury as capital (error), Krogh as signature19823c Domboremari with trees, sable antelope, Harare as capital, Krogh as signature3d Domboremari with trees, sable antelope, Harare as capital, Moyana as signature 19833e Domboremari with trees, sable antelope, Harare as capital, Tsumba as signature 19944a$20152 × 81 mm Navy blue Domboremari with trees, giraffe, Salisbury as capital, Krogh as signatureAfrican elephant, Victoria FallsZimbabwe Bird (profile angle, short neck) 198014 April 198221 August 20064b Domboremari with trees, giraffe, Harare as capital, Krogh as signature 19824c Domboremari with trees, giraffe, Harare as capital, Moyana as signature 19834d Domboremari with trees, giraffe, Harare as capital, Tsumba as signature 1994
1994 banknote series
From 1994 to 1997, the Reserve Bank introduced the second series of Zimbabwe banknotes into circulation. Due to high inflation, which at the time peaked at 42.1% in 1992, the rollout began with two new denominations, $50 and $100. Other denominations followed in 1997, while the $2 note was replaced by a coin. Worsening high inflation, which reached 140.1% in 2002, caused the Reserve Bank to introduce the $500 note on 31 August 2001, and the note on 1 October 2003.