{"product_id":"zimbabwe-p-9-100-dollars-1995-chiremba-balancing-rocks-kariba-dam","title":"Zimbabwe P-9 100 Dollars 1995—Balancing Rocks—Dam—National Flower—Elephants","description":"\u003ch3\u003eBanknote Characteristics\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eColor:\u003c\/b\u003e Obverse — brown and ochre tones; \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gloriosa_superba\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFlame Lily\u003c\/a\u003e in red surrounded by blue, green, and red colour-shifting ink; reverse — green and brown\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eFront:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Matobo_National_Park\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eChiremba Balancing Rocks\u003c\/a\u003e, Matopos National Park; \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gloriosa_superba\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFlame Lily (\u003ci\u003eGloriosa superba\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/a\u003e in colour-shifting ink — national flower of Zimbabwe\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eBack:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kariba_Dam\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eKariba Dam\u003c\/a\u003e on the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zambezi\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eZambezi River\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eWatermark:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zimbabwe_Bird\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eZimbabwe Bird\u003c\/a\u003e soapstone carving\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eComposition:\u003c\/b\u003e Paper\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 152 × 75 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eIssuing entity:\u003c\/b\u003e Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eDemonetized:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Demonetization_(currency)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eYes\u003c\/a\u003e — 21 August 2006. 100 ZWD = about 11.55 USD in year of issue (1995)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eSignatures:\u003c\/b\u003e Gov. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiachronicle.com\/?a=d\u0026amp;d=LN20010110.1.1\u0026amp;e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eLeonard Ladislas Tsumba\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eCurrency:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zimbabwean_dollar_(1980%E2%80%932009)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eZimbabwe First Dollar\u003c\/a\u003e (ZWD, 1980–2006)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eReferences:\u003c\/b\u003e P-9; TBB B109\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout Zimbabwe\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eCapital:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harare\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHarare\u003c\/a\u003e — formerly \u003cstrong\u003eSalisbury\u003c\/strong\u003e, city pop. ~1.5 million; metro pop. ~2.8 million\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePopulation:\u003c\/b\u003e ~16.7 million (UN 2024) — similar to the Netherlands; between Pennsylvania and New York State\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eArea:\u003c\/b\u003e 390,757 km² (150,872 mi²) — roughly the size of Montana or Germany\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eGDP per capita at \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Purchasing_power_parity\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePPP\u003c\/a\u003e:\u003c\/b\u003e ~$3,200 USD (IMF 2024) — ranks ~170th out of 193 globally\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eMain exports:\u003c\/b\u003e Gold, tobacco, platinum, chrome, diamonds, ferrochrome\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eBorders:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zambia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eZambia\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mozambique\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMozambique\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/South_Africa\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSouth Africa\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Botswana\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBotswana\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eOfficial\/spoken languages:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shona_language\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eShona\u003c\/a\u003e (~70%), \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Northern_Ndebele_language\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eNdebele\u003c\/a\u003e (~20%), \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zimbabwean_English\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eEnglish\u003c\/a\u003e (~2.5% first language; official and educational lingua franca), \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kalanga_language\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eKalanga\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tonga_language_(Zambia_and_Zimbabwe)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTonga\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Venda_language\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eVenda\u003c\/a\u003e and others (~8%) — 16 co-official languages under the 2013 constitution\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eSovereignty:\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kingdom_of_Zimbabwe\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eKingdom of Zimbabwe\u003c\/a\u003e and successor states — \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Great_Zimbabwe\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eGreat Zimbabwe\u003c\/a\u003e flourished 11th–15th centuries as a major trading empire\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mutapa_state\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMutapa state\u003c\/a\u003e (c. 1430–1760) — successor to Great Zimbabwe; controlled gold trade routes to the Indian Ocean\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePortuguese and Arab trade contact (16th–17th centuries)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ndebele_kingdom\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eNdebele Kingdom\u003c\/a\u003e (1838–1894) — established in the southwest by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mzilikazi\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMzilikazi\u003c\/a\u003e after breaking from the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zulu_Kingdom\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eZulu Kingdom\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/British_South_Africa_Company\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBritish South Africa Company\u003c\/a\u003e rule (1890–1923) — \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cecil_Rhodes\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCecil Rhodes\u003c\/a\u003e colonises the territory; named \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Southern_Rhodesia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSouthern Rhodesia\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBritish Crown Colony \/ self-governing colony (1923–1965)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Unilateral_Declaration_of_Independence_(Rhodesia)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eUnilateral Declaration of Independence\u003c\/a\u003e (1965–1979) — white-minority \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rhodesia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eRhodesia\u003c\/a\u003e under \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ian_Smith\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eIan Smith\u003c\/a\u003e; internationally unrecognised\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zimbabwe_Rhodesia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eZimbabwe Rhodesia\u003c\/a\u003e \/ \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lancaster_House_Agreement\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eLancaster House Agreement\u003c\/a\u003e (1979–1980) — transition to majority rule\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRepublic of Zimbabwe (1980–date) — independence under \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_Mugabe\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eRobert Mugabe\u003c\/a\u003e; \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2017_Zimbabwean_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat\" target=\"_blank\"\u003emilitary coup\u003c\/a\u003e removes Mugabe in 2017; \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Emmerson_Mnangagwa\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eEmmerson Mnangagwa\u003c\/a\u003e in power — \u003ci\u003ethis note issued during this period\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eZimbabwe Unfiltered\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZimbabwe produced the most spectacular hyperinflation in recorded history. By November 2008, monthly inflation reached 79.6 billion percent. The central bank eventually issued a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zimbabwean_100_trillion_dollar_note\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e100 trillion dollar note\u003c\/a\u003e. This 100-dollar note from 1995 — worth roughly a dollar at the time — predates that collapse by over a decade, issued when Zimbabwe still had one of the stronger currencies in Africa.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Great_Zimbabwe\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eGreat Zimbabwe\u003c\/a\u003e — the ruined stone city that gives the country its name — was built without mortar. Its walls, some 11 metres high and 5 metres thick, were constructed using a dry-stone technique so precise that colonial-era Europeans refused to believe Africans had built it, inventing elaborate theories about Phoenicians or the Queen of Sheba instead. The archaeological consensus has been unambiguous since the 1930s.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZimbabwe has the world's largest known reserves of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lithium_in_Zimbabwe\" target=\"_blank\"\u003elithium\u003c\/a\u003e outside of South America — a resource that has become geopolitically significant in the electric vehicle era. Chinese companies have moved aggressively to secure mining rights since 2021.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Victoria_Falls\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eVictoria Falls\u003c\/a\u003e — on Zimbabwe's border with Zambia — is the largest waterfall on earth by combined width and height. The local Kololo name is \u003ci\u003eMosi-oa-Tunya\u003c\/i\u003e: \"the smoke that thunders.\" The spray is visible from 50 km away.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWhen 100 dollars was worth something\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis note was printed in 1995, when Zimbabwe's dollar was a functioning currency — worth roughly one US dollar, backed by a productive agricultural economy, and respected across the region. \u003cb\u003eThe Chiremba Balancing Rocks on the obverse were chosen as a national symbol of stability and resilience\u003c\/b\u003e — granite boulders that have balanced on each other for millions of years in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Matobo_National_Park\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMatopos National Park\u003c\/a\u003e, defying gravity through geological patience. Within a decade of this note's issue, the currency it represented would be destroyed by one of the worst economic collapses in modern history. The rocks are still there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe colour-shifting flower: Zimbabwe's national emblem in ink\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gloriosa_superba\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFlame Lily (\u003ci\u003eGloriosa superba\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/a\u003e on the obverse is printed in \u003cb\u003ecolour-shifting ink that shifts between blue, green, and red\u003c\/b\u003e depending on the viewing angle — an advanced security feature for a mid-1990s African banknote, and a fitting choice for a flower that is itself a study in dramatic colour. The Flame Lily is Zimbabwe's national flower: its swept-back petals, vivid red and yellow in nature, are among the most distinctive blooms on the continent. It is also highly toxic — every part of the plant contains colchicine, a compound used in medicine but lethal in quantity. \u003cb\u003eZimbabwe chose a beautiful, dangerous flower as its national emblem.\u003c\/b\u003e The \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zimbabwe_Bird\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eZimbabwe Bird\u003c\/a\u003e — the stylised soapstone carving from \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Great_Zimbabwe\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eGreat Zimbabwe\u003c\/a\u003e — appears separately as the watermark, visible when the note is held to light.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eKariba: the dam that drowned a valley and moved a people\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reverse shows \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kariba_Dam\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eKariba Dam\u003c\/a\u003e, completed in 1959 on the Zambezi River between what was then Northern and Southern Rhodesia. At the time of its completion it was the largest man-made dam in the world by reservoir volume — \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lake_Kariba\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eLake Kariba\u003c\/a\u003e holds more water than any other reservoir on earth. \u003cb\u003eBuilding it required the forced relocation of 57,000 \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tonga_people_(Zambia_and_Zimbabwe)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTonga people\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e from the Gwembe Valley — one of the largest forced displacements in African colonial history. The Tonga had no say. The dam powered two nations. The lake became a tourist destination. The Tonga received almost nothing in compensation and remain among the most marginalised communities in both Zambia and Zimbabwe today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eA note from before the fall\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy 2006, this denomination — 100 dollars — had been so thoroughly destroyed by inflation that the entire First Dollar series was \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Demonetization_(currency)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003edemonetised\u003c\/a\u003e and replaced. Zimbabwe went on to issue Second, Third, and Fourth dollar series, each collapsing in turn, before eventually abandoning its own currency entirely and dollarising in 2009. \u003cb\u003eThis 1995 note is a document of the moment before all of that —\u003c\/b\u003e when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe could still print a note with colour-shifting security ink and mean it as a statement of confidence. Condition: UNC.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe rocks balanced for a million years. The currency lasted twenty-six.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World Money Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51945808068919,"sku":"ZW9U","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0969\/7165\/3431\/files\/ZM-100-d-f_43df8cca-b0d8-41ea-a45d-882144638985.png?v=1775872401","url":"https:\/\/worldmoneystore.com\/products\/zimbabwe-p-9-100-dollars-1995-chiremba-balancing-rocks-kariba-dam","provider":"World Money Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}