10 000 Soles de Oro

Peru's 10,000 Soles de Oro denomination existed because inflation had already gutted the currency's lower rungs by the late 1970s. Annual inflation exceeded 60% in 1979 and kept climbing through 1981, making high-denomination notes necessary almost as soon as they were issued. The Soles de Oro series would ultimately be replaced by the Inti in 1985 — by which point the 10,000 Sol note was effectively small change.

Thomas De La Rue's involvement is unsurprising; the Banco Central de Reserva relied on them for much of this period's output. The watermark is the sole listed security feature, which reflects the assumption that notes of this value would cycle quickly rather than invite sustained scrutiny.