100 Colones

The Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador had relied on Thomas De La Rue for its higher-denomination printing through much of the postwar period, and this series continued that arrangement without interruption. The 100 Colones was the ceiling of everyday commerce in a country where most transactions ran well below it — notes at this level typically saw use in wholesale trade and banking transfers rather than retail.

De La Rue's watermark on cotton substrate was the primary security measure, modest even by the standards of the mid-1970s. The absence of more sophisticated features reflects both the printing contract's terms and El Salvador's relatively contained inflation during this window, before the economic disruptions of the late 1970s political crisis accelerated the colon's erosion.