The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced that to help combat the annual inflation of over 191% measured last month and to provide a storage of value, gold coins known as the "Mosi-Oa-Tunya Gold Coins" will be available for purchase starting on July 25th, 2022. Central Bank Governor John Mangudya stated that the 22-carat 1 troy ounce (31.1 gram) coins can be purchased with the local Zimbabwean dollar, United States dollars, or other international currencies, and can be exchanged for cash at the banks or used for financial transactions directly. Each coin will be serialized, and will come with an ownership certificate. 

According to local Zimbabwean news outlets, the announcement of the gold coin has received mixed reactions. While some people and economists believe that the release of the coin could help reduce the demand for US dollars and other foreign currencies, other people say that with a single troy ounce of gold trading for roughly $1,650 US at the time of writing this article, many people do not have the liquid capital necessary to acquire the coins. Critics of the coin also say that some citizens would not purchase the coin due to the banks' past history and nation's policy inconsistencies.

In the 2000s, Zimbabwe faced hyperinflation that resulted in the local currency being redenominated 3 times before effectively being abandoned in 2009. During the hyperinflation crisis, bills with denominations as high as 100 trillion dollars were issued and the year-on-year inflation rate reached just under 90 sextillion percent (89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000%)

The press release from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe regarding the launch of the gold coin can be found as a PDF here: https://www.rbz.co.zw/documents/press/2022/June/Press-Statement---Introduction-of-Gold-Coins.pdf

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