5 000 Zaïres

By 1988, the Zaïre was in freefall — annual inflation would surpass 80% that year, and the Mobutu government's response was to print larger denominations rather than address the underlying collapse. The 5,000 Zaïre note was among the high-value issues that became effectively worthless within months of release, with the currency eventually requiring wholesale replacement by the nouveau zaïre in 1993 at a rate of 3,000,000 to one.

Giesecke & Devrient's Leipzig facility handled the contract throughout the late Mobutu period, despite the political and economic dysfunction of their client. A watermark remains the sole security feature — a notable vulnerability given the inflationary incentive to counterfeit.