Spherical_Melon: Then the government became strapped for cash so then they started [printing hundreds of millions of ‘IOU’](http://time.com/money/4320074/zimbabwe-printing-us-dollar/) dollars and then tried giving public servants actual land instead of money because so few people trusted the IOUs.
GuessImScrewed: Fun fact, considering how much it costs to produce, Monopoly money is actually worth more than the Zimbabwean dollar
notGayBoatbuilder: >In 2014, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe unveiled “convertible” coins in denominations of US$0.01 through US$0.50. The Bank said that 80% of Zimbabweans use the U.S. dollar, and said the local lack of coins induces retailers to round prices up to the next higher dollar. The coins extend the use of the dollar as a de facto currency, and indeed the National Bank has repeatedly assured that it does not intend to bring back a national currency
robynflower: Zimbabwean dollars also known as wallpaper.
unique-name-9035768: Another fun fact: Zimbabwean currency [had expiration dates printed](http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2009/04/22/when-banknotes-expire/) on it at one point because inflation was so bad, the government could only guarantee the value for so long.
Nefarious-: You can’t help but laugh when you read quadrillion in a serious context like this
bobby2768: I actually have one of these notes! I bought one for my wife so I could say I gave her an astronomical amount of money.
[Zimbabwe 100 Trillion Dollar Bill](https://imgur.com/gallery/0yYiu) PS4 Controller for scale.
itreallyhappened8899: Strip joints must be interesting
predictingzepast: Any place that I purchase like $5 US worth of Zimbabwe cash?
Edit: nevermind, people trying to sell $100 trillion bills for like $100-$200 real money..
Mouse_fighter: Venezuela is heading this way
RaggReign: So basically you coulda taken a few dollars exchanged it then used that paper as a cheap alternative to firewood when camping.
ell20: The last time i saw the number quadrillion show up in ANYTHING was when i was playing adventure capitalist
draftstone: My sister asked for her birthday 5 years ago “at least one million dollars in cash”. So I went to a local money collecting shop and bought her a 10 billions zimbabwe dollar bill. Cost me something like 5$ and she stills talk about it regularly!
mrblahblahblah: seriously
they make great xmas presents
” who else ever gave you 10 billion dollars?”
Miamime: Also a relevant link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_dollar
Cetun: Why did they even have security features, I feel like they could have literally just made Xerox copies of them because lets face it, the paper and ink where probably worth more than the actual currency.
Stickypantsful: At one point in Nov 2008 “Money loses half its value every 24 hours and 42 minutes” that’s crazy!
wfaulk: thirty-five quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars dollars?
one US dollar dollar?
laughncow: And that is why Bitcoin trades at $14000 in Zimbabwe.
_Mr-Skeltal_: Well, the currency is far more valuable than what the headline says. I remember trying to buy some, thinking I could get a nice stack of Zimbabwean notes for $20 or $30… it was like that price PER BILL.
I always thought it would be cool to carry a wad of these to leave for tips (in addition to regular tips)… but the eBay speculators have the price too high, like everything else on that site. I’m really surprised the US wasn’t flooded with money for people to play around with… it would net far, far more than $1 to $35 quadrillion.
Jakeeeeeeeey: Am I going crazy or did I see this same post on TIL like 2 days ago
msew: Game of War has this beat.
idetectanerd: so what is the amount needed to buy an iphone X?
abe_the_babe_: Lifehack: move to Zimbabwe and become a quadrillionaire
lychee_treez: Grew up in Zimbabwe, you don’t know inflation until you have to bring a duffle bag of cash to dinner & the prices change while your there
nayhem_jr: Good riddance, M000000000000gabe.
cartechguy: I wouldn’t get too upset if this happens after I get my bachelors.
sephrinx: The original Artifact Knowledge… ZimbabweBucks.
DirectlyTalkingToYou: So there money was worse than worthless.
Quacks_dashing: This is what “Seizing the means of production” looks like in practice. All you poor misled college commies, whining about capitalism. , Take a good hard look at the kind of world you are actually fighting for.
Plethorian: Same thing is happening to Game of War.
by_myself: Serious question: at some point Rocks and sticks must have exceeded the value of their dollar. Could they have simply started trading nice rocks as currency?
Hell, I remember seeing that metal bars and rings were used as currency by vikings.
PM_ME_YOUR_FRACTURES: Article also says they planned on switching to the US dollar by 2015. Was that successful and why would they want to switch to the US dollar?
jerryeight: TIL Souvenir checks boy was the Zimbawe government.
/s
silver00spike: I bought a few million on ebay for a gag gift
kayleighdanger: I was there when that all went down! When I got there they had just knocked 11 zeros off their dollar.