50 Zaïres

By 1988, Zaïre's economy was in freefall — inflation was running at triple digits and would reach catastrophic levels within a few years. The Banque du Zaïre was printing increasingly large denominations to keep pace, and the 50 Zaïres sat at the lower end of a rapidly expanding series that would be comprehensively replaced by the nouveau zaïre reform of 1993.

Printed domestically at the Hôtel des Monnaies in Kinshasa, the series was produced entirely within Mobutu's state apparatus rather than contracted abroad — a political choice as much as a logistical one. With over 12 million notes struck, surviving examples are common, though heavily circulated survivors predominate given the economic conditions of the period.