Guest Contributor – TomD – 15DEC2023 – Hyperinflation Follies

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TomD

Not just Weimar Republic though they are the most famous if not the most egregious example.

100 trillion zimbabwe front.jpg
100 trillion zimbabwe front.jpg

Zimbabwe for example. Attached is a photo of the $100 trillion dollar Zimbabwean bill with the dubious distinction of being the largest denomination bill in human history.

I bought a number of these bills for about dollar and some each in around 2009. I gave them away as gag gifts. Amazingly, a couple of years ago I happened to find that the $100 trillion dollar notes had become rare and expensive. I checked a couple of minutes ago and found them selling in the $100 to $500 dollar (US) range with some higher. I gave about 30 of these things away. The joke is on me.

Adding to the irony, if I sold the notes on the market now, the US Gov would take 25% of my profit away in the form of capital gains tax on collectables. I’m getting a headache trying to think of all the ironies wrapped up in that.

Some outfit in Germany (no irony there) printed these notes for the Zimbabwean government, so they are of substantial quality.