Zimbabwe Dollar Value: 100 Trillion Notes, Series and Scams

A Zimbabwe dollar note is worth only what a collector will pay for it, because the currency was demonetized in 2015 and no bank anywhere exchanges it. As of late 2026, a crisp uncirculated 2008 100 trillion dollar note with the AA serial prefix sells for about $40-80 from high-volume eBay sellers and about $90-180 at banknote dealers, and one graded by PMG or PCGS at 67 or 68 retails for about $230-370. The 50, 20 and 10 trillion notes from the same series bring roughly $20-80 each, the lower 2008 denominations from $1 to billions bring about $1-10, and the 2006 and 2007 bearer cheques are mostly a dollar or two each. A worn or folded note is worth much less than a crisp one.

That price has nothing to do with Zimbabwe's economy and everything to do with novelty. The 100 trillion carries the biggest number ever printed in figures on a circulating banknote, fourteen zeros (Hungary's 1946 pengo notes were higher in value, but written in words), and people buy it as a curiosity, a gift or a classroom prop. When someone tells you these notes will one day be worth thousands or exchanged at a "revalued" rate, they are selling you something.

Quick answer

• 2008 100 trillion, AA prefix, crisp uncirculated: about $40-80 on eBay, $90-180 at dealers; PMG or PCGS 67-68 about $230-370.
• 2008 50, 20 and 10 trillion: roughly $20-80 each uncirculated.
• Other 2008 notes ($1 up to billions) and 2009 notes: about $1-10 each. 2006 and 2007 bearer cheques: usually under $2.
• Circulated, folded or stained notes sell for a fraction of these prices, roughly $10-30 for a worn 100 trillion.
• The notes cannot be exchanged anywhere. "Revaluation" pitches are a long-running scam.

How to identify and value a Zimbabwe note, step by step

1. Read the issuer. A genuine note says RESERVE BANK OF ZIMBABWE across the top. The 2006 to 2008 bearer cheques also say BEARER CHEQUE and carry an expiry date, because they were issued as temporary cheques rather than banknotes.
2. Read the date in the lower part of the front. Zimbabwe redenominated its currency three times, and each step produced a new set of notes. Notes dated 2006 and 2007 belong to the dollar introduced in August 2006. Notes dated 2008 with denominations from $1 to $100 trillion belong to the dollar introduced in August 2008. Notes dated 2009, from $1 to $500, belong to the last dollar, introduced in February 2009 and abandoned within months.
3. Read the denomination carefully. Count the words, not the zeros. The 2008 trillion notes are written out: ONE HUNDRED TRILLION DOLLARS, FIFTY TRILLION, TWENTY TRILLION and TEN TRILLION.
4. Check the serial prefix. The trillion notes collectors want carry the prefix AA before the number. Replacement prefixes exist on some Zimbabwe issues and sell for more, but a claim of a replacement note needs checking against a specialist reference before you pay or price for it.
5. Check the security features. Hold a 2008 note to the light. A genuine note shows a watermark in the blank area, an embedded security thread, and a patterned stripe with a Zimbabwe Bird in ink that shifts color when tilted. On the 100 trillion, the front shows the Chiremba Balancing Rocks and the back shows Victoria Falls and a buffalo.
6. Judge condition honestly. Uncirculated means no folds, no bends, no handling marks and sharp corners. Most notes that came home with travelers were used in Zimbabwe and show folds and soiling. A single center fold drops a note out of uncirculated.
7. Look out for novelty pieces. Shiny gold foil "100 trillion" notes, notes on plastic and notes with odd colors are souvenir replicas, not Reserve Bank notes, and are worth a few dollars at most.
8. Price from sold results for the same denomination, prefix and condition, not from the highest asking prices.

What Zimbabwe notes sell for

Figures are typical sale and dealer retail prices as of late 2026. Sold data for these notes is noisy, because a few sellers move hundreds of notes at fixed prices and many listings ask far more than anyone pays. Treat the ranges as honest working figures, not as precise market quotes.

Why do these notes sell for tens of dollars when the official 2015 exchange rate valued a 100 trillion note at about 40 US cents? Because collectors are not buying money. They are buying the most famous symbol of hyperinflation in modern history, and a finite supply of crisp examples. In the years after 2009, uncirculated 100 trillion notes sold for a few dollars each; prices rose as demand from collectors, teachers and gift buyers absorbed the stock, and they have been broadly stable in the tens of dollars for raw notes since. A bundle of 100 consecutive uncirculated notes sells at a per-note price below the single-note price, which tells you dealers are not short of supply.

What changes the price

Say you find a stack of Zimbabwe notes from a relative's trip: a 100 trillion with a center fold, two crisp 50 billion notes and a handful of 2007 bearer cheques. The 100 trillion, with the AA prefix and genuine watermark and thread but folded, is worth roughly $10-30. The two crisp 50 billion notes bring about $3-10 each. The bearer cheques are worth about a dollar each, or a few dollars as a group. The whole stack is a $20-60 sale. If the 100 trillion were crisp and flat, the stack would be closer to $50-100, and graded at 67 or 68 it could reach a few hundred, but only after paying the grading fee.

The revaluation scam

The notes cannot be exchanged. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe ran a demonetization exchange in 2015, at a rate of 250 trillion 2008-series dollars to 1 US dollar, which made a 100 trillion note worth about 40 cents. That window closed in 2015. The country has since used US dollars and later currencies of its own; the current one, the ZiG, was introduced in 2024 and has no link to the old notes.

Despite this, a persistent online pitch claims that old Zimbabwe dollars, often alongside Iraqi dinars and Vietnamese dong, will soon be "revalued" or "RV'd" at or near the US dollar, turning a 100 trillion note into a fortune. Sellers use the claim to charge hundreds of dollars for notes worth tens, and some promoters sell "exchange appointments" or memberships. There is no such plan, no bank that will honor one, and no government body that has announced one. A seller who mentions revaluation, a promised future value or an exchange appointment is telling you to walk away. Buy these notes, if you want one, for what they are: a striking piece of monetary history.

Common mistakes

• Expecting a bank to exchange the notes. No bank in Zimbabwe or elsewhere accepts them. The 2015 exchange window is closed.
• Pricing from asking prices. Listings at $150-500 for a raw single note sit unsold next to identical notes selling for $40-80.
• Calling a folded note uncirculated. A center fold, even a faint one, takes a note out of that grade and cuts the price by half or more.
• Grading a cheap note. At $25-50 a note in grading fees, a raw note worth $40-80 only pays to grade if it is truly flawless.
• Mistaking a foil novelty for a real note. Gold foil and plastic copies are souvenirs.
• Confusing the series. A 2007 bearer cheque for $10 million and a 2008 $10 million note are different issues, and neither is worth much.
• Buying into revaluation. No legitimate source supports it. The notes are collectibles only.

How WorthPic reads banknote photos

WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From clear photos of the front and back it reads the issuer, the date, the denomination, the serial prefix and the design, which places the note in the right series, separates a 2008 trillion note from a 2007 bearer cheque or a 2009 note, and spots a gold foil novelty at once. It judges folds, stains, tears and corner wear and gives an honest value range for the note as it appears, with separate figures for crisp and circulated examples. What it cannot know from a photo is whether a faint fold is there under the light, whether the paper and security features are genuine, or how a grading service would rate the note. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise, and for a run of notes or a possible replacement note a world banknote dealer or PMG is the place to confirm.

What to photograph

• The front, flat and straight on, in daylight, filling the frame, with the serial number and date sharp.
• The back, flat and straight on.
• The note held against a window, to show the watermark and thread.
• The note at a low angle to the light, which shows folds and creases that a straight-on photo hides.
• The corners close up if you think the note is uncirculated.
• A whole group laid out if you have many notes, then close ups of any trillion notes.

When to get it looked at in person

For most Zimbabwe notes, you do not need anyone. Match the denomination, date and condition against sold listings and you have your answer. A world banknote dealer is worth a call for a large group of crisp trillion notes, consecutive runs, a note you believe is a replacement, or a note that looks flawless enough to grade, and PMG or PCGS Banknote can grade it if the numbers justify the fee. For other notes from the same drawer, see our guide to old foreign banknotes, and if you are unsure whether a note is genuine at all, the checks in how to tell if money is counterfeit apply in principle to any modern note: thread, watermark, color shift and paper. For printing errors on any note, see misprinted money.