Thursday, May 1, 2008

I WAS A BILLIONNAIRE ONCE! (And so was everyone else.)

Numbers is the theme today, and the astonishing denomination of this note - five hundred billion dinars - bears witness to the economic chaos that can follow political upheaval. After the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991-92, the newly-independent republics began issuing their own notes. Inflation and spiraling prices forced the government to issue notes for unimaginable sums. People find this hard to believe, but at that time if one was lucky enough to have foreign currency to change, one did so JUST for the amount needed right then and there, since a few hours later the dinars' value had gone down. No kidding. If you visit Belgrade, you can buy one of these big bills for around 100 dinars (now about $2.00), or buy it online for around $22.95. None of the currency featured is in use anymore, except the coins. By the way, the man on the bill is Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj (YO-vahn Yo-VAHN-oh-veetch Zm-eye) 1833-1904, known as the father of Serbian children's literature.

13 comments:

Clueless in Boston said...

A billionaire? I wouldn't mind being only a millionaire:) It's nice to dream.

Chuck Pefley said...

Sorry you lost all that money -:)
Very colorful currency. Great choice today!

alice said...

Original and great idea!

vero said...

Oh, my husband like very much foreign money, he collect them but dont has this kind of big bill.

Anonymous said...

A very nice arrangement of bills. I have some old German money in an old box. the numbers tell me, that I'm a millionaire, too ;-) (inflation money from the years after Word War II)

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading your post today then reflected on when our government will have to print denominations like this as we are running monumental deficits and owe our soul to China. What a burden we are putting on our grandchildren.

magiceye said...

superb presentation!

Jane Hards Photography said...

Winner of the most informative numbers theme today I must say. An excellent choice, and so far, the only economic related post I have seen.

Jilly said...

I wondered if someone would do money. Yours is just great. Unimaginable sums as you say. Great choice for the theme today and lovely photo. Thanks for all the history. really interesting.

Felicia said...

Great photo and thanks for the history too. I wish the USD were as colorful and would honor other notable individuals besides past presidents!

Gerald (SK14) said...

very informative post and great addition to the theme

Jim Klenke said...

Thats a lot of zeros on there.

travelphilippines said...

beautiful currency i wish our was that colorful.

SPRING FASHION

 This is a post that would be better in color, but maybe not. These colors were soooo pale.