1000 Córdobas Revolution

Issued in the immediate aftermath of the Sandinista revolution, this coin commemorates the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, whose family had controlled Nicaragua for over four decades. The new government's decision to strike a .900 gold commemorative within its first year was partly political theater — establishing the legitimacy of the FSLN-led junta on an internationally recognized monetary instrument — and partly a hard-currency revenue play aimed at foreign collectors rather than domestic circulation.

Nicaragua's economy was in ruins by 1980, the córdoba under severe inflationary pressure. Virtually none of these entered circulation.