Reserve Bank of Rhodesia ten-dollar note, reverse with Great Zimbabwe (1979)
Reverse of a ten-dollar note headed 'RESERVE BANK OF RHODESIA', printed with the stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe, the conical tower and the curved enclosure wall under trees, and an oval watermark window showing the Zimbabwe bird. The currency pairs the issuer's name with a monument whose origin was contested between the government's official line and African nationalists, so the note borrows the site's prestige for the state's own image.
- Date
- 1979
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- Reserve Bank of Rhodesia, Salisbury
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Country
- Rhodesia
- Medium
- Banknotes and coins
- Issuer type
- State
- Leader
- Ian Smith
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Reassure
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (scan credited to the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia), retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (Commons PD-ZW-currency: demonetised banknote, s.50 Zimbabwe Copyright Act)
Banknote of the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia, 1979; scan via Wikimedia Commons, public domain per Commons PD-ZW-currency
Text on the object
RESERVE BANK OF RHODESIA $10 [in each of the four corner cartouches] TEN DOLLARS
Reverse only; the watermark window and the engraved ruins carry no text. The obverse (promise to pay, signature and date) is not hosted.
