100 000 Cordobas overprinted on 100 Cordobas

Nicaragua's inflation crisis of the late 1980s moved faster than the print facilities could respond. Rather than wait for a purpose-designed high-denomination note, the Banco Central overprinted existing 100 Córdoba stock — a stopgap that effectively multiplied face value one thousandfold overnight. The overprint series was authorised under the Sandinista government in its final years, before the 1990 monetary reform that replaced the córdoba with the córdoba oro at a rate of 5,000,000 to one.

The underlying 100 Córdoba note was itself only a few years old when requisitioned for overprinting, which means base note condition varies considerably across surviving examples.