100 Colones

The Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador was established in 1934 as part of a broader monetary reorganization following the catastrophic collapse of coffee prices during the Depression — El Salvador had suspended gold convertibility in 1931 and needed centralized control over note issuance. The 100 Colones was the highest denomination in circulation, which in a country where rural wages were measured in fractions of a colon made this effectively a wholesale banking instrument rather than everyday currency.

ABNC held the printing contract for Salvadoran notes through much of the mid-twentieth century. The 1942 date places this note squarely in wartime, when paper and ink allocation affected print runs across the Western Hemisphere.