Monday, August 4, 2008

Treasure Hunt in Zimbabwe


To combat hyperinflation, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently devalued its currency by removing ten zeros. This turns notes previously worth $10,000,000,000 into $1. Before the devaluation, coins having a face value of $1 were worthless, because you'd have to carry billions of them to buy anything. However, as part of the move, the Government of Zimbabwe re-introduced the old silver coins, and the result is that the previously worthless coins are now worth 10 billion times what they were the week before. The result has set Zimbabweans on a national treasure hunt, looking under beds, between cushions on the couch and in old cupboards for jars of coins. Do you know where you hid yours? Arrrrrgh!

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