On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:46:33 +0100,  wrote:

>"Hugh Brodie"  wrote in message 
>news:wPCdnbyfMdHnQcbVnZ2dnUVZ_hCdnZ2d@giganews.com...
>>
>>  wrote in message 
>> news:shB6k.66907$Ek2.32944@newsfe17.ams2...
>>> "Hugh Brodie"  wrote in message 
>>> news:ZKGdnURP4qoCEMfVnZ2dnUVZ_sbinZ2d@giganews.com...
>>>>
>>>> Speaking of hyper-inflation, it's fun looking at the website of the 
>>>> Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe  http://www.rbz.co.zw to see the daily exchange 
>>>> rate of the $Z vs the $US. Yesterday, it was 5,817,000,000; today it's 
>>>> 6,718,000,000. They have just issued $Z 50,000,000,000 notes ("bearer 
>>>> cheques"). And it will cost you $Z 1,800,000,000 to mail a postcard to 
>>>> the US. http://www.zimpost.co.zw/postalrates.html
>>>>
>>>
>>> It's a shame that there are no images of currently circulating Zimbabwean 
>>> notes or coins.
>>
>> A few notes here - buying a beer in Harare: 
>> http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cgdev.org/userfiles/image/blog/zimbabwe_beer_cost.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blogs.cgdev.org/globaldevelopment/2007/12/buy_a_beer_in_zimbabwe_youll_n_1.php&h=291&w=422&sz=64&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=SJqyOEzhhzQwdM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522zimbabwe%2Bdollars%2522%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
>>
>
>Interesting. Are people in Zimbabwe using a foreign currency, such as the 
>dollar or the rand, to purchase things or to hedge against a devaluing 
>currency? I would think that it would be difficult to actually carry around 
>such large volumes of currency. 
>
ITYF the USD is a universal black-market currency in countries where
the economy has gone tits-up, possibly accompanied to a lesser degree
by Sterling and Euros or any more local "trusted" foreign currency.

Charles Ellson wrote:

> ITYF the USD is a universal black-market currency in countries where
> the economy has gone tits-up, possibly accompanied to a lesser degree
> by Sterling and Euros or any more local "trusted" foreign currency.

I was under the impression that the Euro is beginning to usurp the dollar
as currency of choice.  Partly because of the state of the dollar value
and partly because the Euro has a ?500 note.

-- 
Simon

Brighton
ex-Westbury, ex-Aberystwyth

"Charles Ellson"  wrote in message 
news:t3fo541apjrr7opl58j6h5ie70lsptqkrn@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:46:33 +0100,  wrote:
>
> ITYF the USD is a universal black-market currency in countries where
> the economy has gone tits-up, possibly accompanied to a lesser degree
> by Sterling and Euros or any more local "trusted" foreign currency.

Euros yes, but I do not think that sterling would be a universal 
black-market currency.

I would also expect that rands would be the hard currency of choice in 
southern Africa, as a substantial part of the Zimbabwean population is in 
South Africa.

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:36:27 +0100,  wrote:

>"Charles Ellson"  wrote in message 
>news:t3fo541apjrr7opl58j6h5ie70lsptqkrn@4ax.com...
>> On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:46:33 +0100,  wrote:
>>
>> ITYF the USD is a universal black-market currency in countries where
>> the economy has gone tits-up, possibly accompanied to a lesser degree
>> by Sterling and Euros or any more local "trusted" foreign currency.
>
>Euros yes, but I do not think that sterling would be a universal 
>black-market currency.
>
I did say "lesser degree". My late mother worked for a subsidiary of
<censored> in the 1960s/1970s and was aware of dodgy goings-on in the
Middle East where the "agency fee" for some government officials and
company agents took the form of payment in IIRC "gold pounds" which
was presumably a reference to payment in sovereigns. I would not be
surprised if there had been a double fiddle of the coins being
accounted for at face value to diminish the apparent size of the
alleged "fees".

>I would also expect that rands would be the hard currency of choice in 
>southern Africa, as a substantial part of the Zimbabwean population is in 
>South Africa. 
>