From astronomical hyperinflation to football players immortalized in money, the world hides some very strange banknotes

'People do not know what to do with their money' is a phrase we often hear, usually referring to people who have so much money that they do not know what to spend it on. Well, it also happens to those who are responsible for printing it. Some banks around the world have resorted to printing extraordinary bills, either to adjust to a huge inflation or to honor their sports heroes.

Leer en español: Estos son los 5 billetes más extraños del mundo

1. Zimbabwe's 100 trillion dollar bill (and 100 trillion pengos of Hungary)

Perhaps, it is one of the most famous tickets for the exorbitant figure it represents, the 100 billion dollar Zimbabwean bill was issued in 2009 during the government of former President Robert Mugabe, who left office last year.

This bill was the product of one of the most drastic examples of hyperinflation in history, a process that began in the late 1990s when the government printed money to pay for its participation in the Congo war. Inflation went out of control when it reached 79.6 billion percent in 2008, just before this 100-trillion-dollar Zimbabwean bill was printed, equivalent to about $ 300 dollars.

In Venezuela, they are concerned, and rightly so, to reach a million percent inflation, but they are still far from reaching the worst case of hyperinflation in history.

After the Second World War, the value of the pengo, the currency of Hungary fell to absurd levels, reaching 460 trillion trillions of pengo to acquire a single US dollar, something that would be very difficult being this bill of 100 trillion pengo , the highest circulation at the moment.

2. The Philippine 100,000 peso bill

In 1998, to celebrate 100 years of its independence, the Philippine government issued a limited series of 100,000-peso bills that broke the record for the world's largest banknote. It measured about 20 centimeters by 35 cms, more or less the same as a legal size sheet.

This ticket was only offered to collectors, who could acquire it for 180,000 Philippine pesos, about 3,700 dollars, which makes it also a strange case of a bill that is worth much more than the value that is worth.

3. The tickets with the face of Mobutu of Zaire

Mobutu Sese Seko, dictator of the nation of Zaire, now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was condemned by history as a nefarious man. He seized the presidency of his country since 1965 and stayed until he was overthrown in a coup orchestrated by rebels.

Also read: Is the end of cash coming?

Mobutu was responsible for stealing between 4 and 15 billion dollars during his time in power, and spending public money to pay for shopping trips in Paris. So, it is not surprising that when Mobutu was overthrown, the new leaders of the country hated him so much that they decided to cut his face off all the bills in circulation.

4. George Best's five-pound bill in Northern Ireland

To commemorate the first anniversary of the death of one of the greatest football idols in Northern Ireland, George Best, the Ulster Bank announced in 2007 that it would print a series of five-pound bills with the image of the player.

The legend of Manchester United, who died in 2006, never represented Northern Ireland in a World Cup, but was always a benchmark of football in a country that experienced the tragedies of the war during the second half of the last century. The bills are now a collector's item and they are sold at 30 or 40 pounds depending on their condition.

5. The 5 lirot bill of Albert Einstein in Israel

Did you know that Albert Einstein's image decorated a bill? In 1952, after the death of President Chaim Weizmann, his temporary successor David Ben-Gurion sent a letter to Albert Einstein in which he offered him the position of official president of Israel.

Einstein, 73, rejected the offer, saying he was not qualified to hold the position. Such was the appreciation and respect that the Israeli government had for Einstein, that 13 years after his death, they introduced a bill with his image, the five-lirot bill, a coin that would only last in circulation until 1980.

LatinAmerican Post | Pedro Bernal
Translated from “Conoce el billete de 100 billones de dólares y otros 5 billetes extraños”

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