Majorly OT - Who Wants to be a Zimbabwean Quadrillionaire?
(Mods, feel free to delete if this is too political)
My friend pointed out an article to me today about how bad inflation has gotten in Zimbabwe. The banks of Zimbabwe are trying to get rid of their worthless currency by offering U.S. dollars in exchange.
The exchange rate? 35 quadrillion Zimbabwe dollars for each U.S. dollar.
This gave me the idea to become a quadrillionaire, but apparently a ton of people have had the same idea. The going rate to become an instant quadrillionaire on eBay is $330.
Ironic that Zimbabwe has greatly increased the value of its currency by trying to destroy it.
So....who is willing to fork over $330 real dollars to become a quadrillionaire?
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Imagine how many Dad jokes would be generated from that
...plane crashing into a train that then somehow crashes into a boat that then crashes into a submarine that then sinks to the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
Cool story, bro: I was in Ghana (much better run than Zimbabwe) about ten years ago and at one point had more than 1,000,000 Cedis (the Ghanaian currency) in my pocket. It was a very odd feeling despite the fact that, to me, it was a couple hundred dollars.
Funny thing is, in the mid-90's, I remember my 4th grade teacher making us all write a report on how great of a guy Mugabe was (I'm not quite sure why were discussing politics in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia at the age of 10). I imagine no school kids, here in the states or elswhere, are taught to think such nice things about this incompetent crook anymore. Hindsight is 20-20.
Faceless and nameless email friends from Congo?
The guy running a hostel I stayed at in South Africa a few years back was originally from Zimbabwe and would always give us a better exchange rate for USD to SA rand so he would have more USD to take back home
A couple of years ago I bought a 100 trillion dollar Zimbabwe bill on eBay for fun. I got it for $4.95, I guess I got a good deal. 
If you were not already, you are definitely part of the 1% now!
I went to Zimbabwe in April with the UM Alumni Association as part of a South Africa trip. They don't even use the Zimbabwean currency any more. The beggers on the street all have a handful of million and billion Z dollar notes that they are willing to let go for a couple bucks. Everything is in US dollars which is really, really weird.
That said, the elephants wandering the streets near Victoria Falls is worth the price of admission.
dude, my brother and I bought 100 of these bills literally 4 years ago for 50 bucks. They havent been legitimate currency for over 6 years. 12 April 2009, they abandonded it.
The difference is that they are actively destroying it now, so supply is (finally) exceeding demand.
Sell those bills on eBay!
Sounds like the perfect time to cash in...
For one fleeting moment, I thought about possibly trying to market a "35 Quadrillion Zimbabwean Dollar Store", but they still wouldn't take MasterCard for some reason which eludes current understanding and it would be the same result. That is some hideous inflation though. I did the exchange rate on the MSRP of my car in Zimbawean dollars though - a cool 8.6083 x 10^20 Z$, so not too bad for a new Cherokee.
that they stopped printing Zimbabwe dollars and just started using US currency in 2012 due to the obvious hyperinflation of their local currency.
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everyone with student loans in Zimbabwe is now debt free.
I couldn't point to where Zimbabwe is, TBH.
...right next to Mali, which is next to the Home Depot.
Is that the Safari district?
That didn't have the impact they hoped.
Turkey I believe dropped a zero or three awhile back and I think that helped.
Long story short, leave your economy alone.
Sorry, there are no koalas in Zimbabwe!
How long is... ahhh, nevermind.
Would buy you a Starbucks coffee.
Did they abandon the currency? And if so, are they trying to move to the USD?
Ed: I guess I should read the article. Currency abandoned in 2009 after hyperinflation ruined it, they are using USD and South African rand.
Somone on reddit who lived in Zimbabwe said that it was cheaper to use the currency to wipe than buy toilet paper...
I chuckled.
Pre-WWII Germany their money had such little value they used it as wallpaper.
And I thought my pocket full of South African rand was bad at 12-to-1 conversion rate. Currently back visitng Chicago and realized I have only rand and no USD...
I plan on getting up to Zimbabwe from Joburg soon to see Vic Falls, might have to pick up some 100 trillions while there.