by Dabelle
Ooh. Ooh. ooh. So excited!
We came across some old banknotes on the spare room bed and wondered what story they tell. I sent Larry and Skeleton Man off to ask Debbie about them, and Mini Super Girl and I did some preliminary snooping around. Once again, we have a story that wasn’t planned! Yay! I love it when that happens – it keeps us interested and enthusiastic!
Repeated symbols on three of the banknotes immediately grab my attention. It looks like three rocks piled on top of each other, like a massive Zen stone. Can you see the ones I mean?
What did they represent? Were they symbolic or a literal representation of something. The other symbols make sense – various wild African animals. But these stones, hmmm, intriguing.
Larry (with coffee) and Skeleton Man come back with Debbie’s story shortly after we’d started sussing things out.
We gather around, while Larry drinks his coffee, to hear what he found out.
“The notes are from 1979/1980 when Zimbabwe-Rhodesia transitioned to internationally recognised majority rule and then later became Zimbabwe when independence from UK was granted on 18 April 1980. Living in the country at the time, and only 16 herself, Debbie kept the notes issued by the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia and some of those issued early in 1980 from the new Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, when the value was on a par with the US dollar.
Sadly since then, due to hyperinflation and devaluation, Zimbabwean currency has changed drastically. At one point in 2009, Z$100 trillion banknotes were issued. Debbie said the story of the Zimbabwean currency is a long and crazy one, which you can Google if you want to“. (You can read more about it here).
“Why were they lying on the bed?”
“Debbie found them at the back of one of the photo albums she was disposing of yesterday, and she has decided to keep them to add them to her stash of currencies from her travels. She wonders if they might actually be worth something, one day. She’s had them for 40 years!“
“That’s quite incredible, they are still in great condition. And what about the interesting symbols on the Zimbabwean notes?”, I ask, impatient to know more. “Did Debbie say anything about those?“
“Well, no, because I didn’t ask. I didn’t know they were of any interest“, Larry responds. “You’ll have to ask her yourself.“
I ‘m frustrated, of course, because I haven’t found out anything about the symbols. My own fault for not giving Larry a list of questions to ask. I shall have to ask Debbie if she knows! Our Day Letter B adventure is complete!
Until next time, toodles
Dabelle
PS, if any Zimbabweans are reading this, perhaps you’d like to tell Dabelle what they are. I know, of course, but she doesn’t!
Sundays on the A to Z Challenge
There are no new stories on Sundays during the A to Z Challenge, as the alphabet only has 26 letters. But I will be publishing a “Weekly Lock Down” paper which will feature highlights from the week’s stories and some previously unpublished bits too! Don’t forget to keep an eye out for it here!
Remember to keep a look out for Dabelle’s wigs and other costume changes during the challenge!
If you are on Instagram, you can follow these hashtags:
#dibzzenAtoZChallenge⠀
#DibzZenA2Z2020
dibzzen.com 
You could be rich and not know it!
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Maybe it would be rather useful at the moment.
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Interesting how you’ve tied your story with the characters. I need to find a girl with a magnifying glass to sit with Nancy Drew books.
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Old currency is certainly quite intriguing – no wonder Dabelle is interested and excited.
Loving your A-Z challenge stories already.
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Thank you so much for stopping by and for the lovely feedback. 😊
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Love how your story and your history went together!
And I love the photos.
@JazzFeathers
The Old Shelter – Living the Twenties
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Thank you so much! 😊 It’s my favourite story so far. It was tricky photographing such flat things, and getting the team in too. But it’s a challenge I love.
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