Monetary History · October 1, 2026 · 7 min read

Six Zeros Day: Twice on October 1, a Million Became One

On October 1, 1993, Yugoslavia took six zeros off the dinar. On October 1, 2021, Venezuela took six zeros off the bolívar. Same date, same ratio, 28 years apart, and two very different stories afterward.

What happened to the Yugoslav dinar on October 1, 1993?

On Friday, October 1, 1993, Yugoslavia introduced the October dinar (ISO code YUO). Every 1,000,000 reformed dinars (YUR) became one new dinar. Ten days earlier, on September 21, the National Bank of Yugoslavia had issued a 10,000,000,000 dinara note, the largest of the reformed series. In the new unit, that same sum was simply 10,000.

The reset bought very little time. Yugoslavia was under United Nations sanctions and deep in hyperinflation, and the new series began climbing almost at once. Here are the October dinar’s ten denominations with their issue dates, as recorded in the National Bank of Yugoslavia’s own banknote catalog:

Issue dates: Tomić and Cvijan, Novčanice Jugoslavije 1918–1997, National Bank of Yugoslavia.

The last of those, portraying the Serbian poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, is the highest denomination in the history of Yugoslav currency. We cover it in depth in our complete guide to the 500 billion dinara, Pick 137.

On January 1, 1994, another nine zeros came off, at 1,000,000,000 to 1. On January 24, the novi dinar arrived, pegged one-for-one to the Deutsche Mark. Economists Steve Hanke and Nicholas Krus place Yugoslavia’s peak in January 1994: 313,000,000 percent for the month, about 64.6 percent a day, with prices doubling every 1.41 days. That is the third-highest monthly rate in the Hanke–Krus table, which is why Yugoslavia sits at number three in our list of every hyperinflation in history, ranked.

Why did Venezuela remove six zeros on October 1, 2021?

Twenty-eight years later to the day, and on a Friday again (1993 and 2021 share an identical calendar), the Banco Central de Venezuela introduced the bolívar digital (Bs.D, ISO code VED). Every 1,000,000 bolívares soberanos became one new bolívar. It was Venezuela’s third redenomination since 2008: three zeros on January 1, 2008, when the bolívar fuerte arrived; five on August 20, 2018, for the bolívar soberano; and six in 2021. That is fourteen zeros in less than fourteen years. One bolívar digital equals 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) of the bolívares that circulated before 2008.

The central bank described the change plainly: the bolívar “will not be worth more or less; it is only to facilitate its use on a simpler monetary scale.” New notes of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 bolívares digitales entered circulation, and the 100 was worth a little under US$25 on launch day. Our guide to the Venezuelan bolívar digitale walks through the full series.

What does removing six zeros look like in real banknotes?

A redenomination is easiest to understand in paper, because the paper does not change. The same note, in the same wallet, is simply counted differently the next morning.

One million became one

Venezuela’s 1,000,000 bolívar soberano note, dated September 3, 2020, was announced on March 5, 2021 and released gradually from March 8, together with new 200,000 and 500,000 notes. It was the largest denomination in the country’s history, and at that day’s exchange rate it was worth about US$0.50. By September 30 it was worth a little less than a quarter. The next morning it counted as exactly one bolívar digital, and it stayed in circulation at that value. Less than seven months separated the country’s largest note from its new basic unit.

One hundred stands for one hundred million

The 100 bolívares digitales note (dated April 29, 2021; Pick 119) looks like an everyday banknote. In the currency it replaced, it is 100,000,000 bolívares soberanos. In pre-2008 bolívares, it is 10,000,000,000,000,000, or ten quadrillion. A pack of 100 of these notes represents ten billion soberanos.

Six zeros, returned in 75 days

In Yugoslavia the arithmetic ran the other way. The 10 billion dinara note of September 21, 1993 was the ceiling the October reform retired. On December 15, 75 days after the reform, the new series issued a 50 billion dinara note: a bigger number than the old ceiling, in a unit a million times larger.

Same date, same six zeros, 28 years apart. The paper did not change. What happened next depended entirely on inflation.

Yugoslavia 1993 vs. Venezuela 2021: how do the two redenominations compare?

The difference is timing. Yugoslavia removed its zeros while inflation was still accelerating toward its January 1994 peak. Venezuela removed its zeros after the worst had passed: by the central bank’s figures, December 2020 was the last month with inflation above 50 percent, and in January 2022 Bloomberg reported that the country had broken one of the longest hyperinflations in the world. Prices still rose 686.4 percent over 2021, and the 200 and 500 bolívar digital notes followed in August 2024.

Why do countries remove zeros from their currency?

A redenomination changes the unit of account, not what money buys. Prices, wages, bank balances and debts are all divided by the same number on the same day. The reasons are practical. When everyday prices run into the millions, cash registers, accounting software, price tags and ordinary arithmetic run short of digits, and every purchase takes a thicker stack of notes.

Six is a popular number of zeros. Turkey also removed six on January 1, 2005, when the new Turkish lira replaced the old at 1,000,000 to 1. What a redenomination cannot do on its own is stop inflation. October 1 shows both outcomes side by side, which is why we think the date deserves a name.

For collectors, each redenomination closes one chapter and opens the next. The last and largest notes of the old unit, and the first notes of the new one, are where this history is easiest to hold in your hand. That is what makes hyperinflation notes collectible: they are the paper record of events like these, and of the people who lived through them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Six Zeros Day?

Six Zeros Day is Planet Banknote’s name for October 1, the date on which two countries each removed exactly six zeros from their currency: Yugoslavia in 1993 and Venezuela in 2021. Both redenominations used a ratio of 1,000,000 to 1, and both fell on a Friday.

When did Venezuela switch to the bolívar digital?

On October 1, 2021. The Banco Central de Venezuela exchanged 1,000,000 bolívares soberanos for one bolívar digital (Bs.D, ISO code VED). It was the country’s third redenomination since 2008.

How many zeros has Venezuela removed since 2008?

Fourteen: three in 2008, five in 2018 and six in 2021. One bolívar digital equals 100 trillion of the bolívares used before 2008.

What was the Yugoslav dinar redenomination of October 1993?

On October 1, 1993, Yugoslavia replaced the reformed dinar (YUR) with the October dinar (YUO) at 1,000,000 to 1. Hyperinflation continued, the 500,000,000,000 dinara note (Pick 137) was issued on December 23, 1993, and nine more zeros were removed on January 1, 1994.

How many old bolívares is a 100 bolívar digital note?

A 100 bolívares digitales note equals 100,000,000 bolívares soberanos, or ten quadrillion bolívares from before 2008. A pack of 100 notes represents ten billion soberanos.

Does removing zeros stop hyperinflation?

Not by itself. A redenomination changes the unit, not what the money buys. Yugoslavia’s October 1993 reform was followed by its peak month, January 1994, at 313 million percent (Hanke–Krus). Venezuela’s 2021 reform came after monthly inflation had already fallen below 50 percent.