1000 Córdobas Sandino's Birthplace

Nicaragua issued this gold piece in 1984 while the Sandinista government was deep into its conflict with U.S.-backed Contra forces — a deliberate assertion of revolutionary identity through coinage at a moment when the country could scarcely afford the mint costs. Augusto Sandino, executed by the National Guard in 1934 following a meeting with President Sacasa under guarantees of safe conduct, had by then become the ideological cornerstone of the FSLN.

Mintages for Nicaraguan gold issues of this period were exceptionally low, produced almost entirely for export sale and collector markets rather than any domestic circulation.