20 Cordobas

Nicaragua's mid-1980s currency was produced under acute pressure — the Sandinista government was financing a war against the Contras while facing a U.S. trade embargo, and inflation was accelerating toward the catastrophic hyperinflation that would follow by decade's end. The 1985 series notes were issued in quantity as the government struggled to keep denominations relevant against collapsing purchasing power.

By 1988, a monetary reform replaced the córdoba at a rate of 1,000 old to 1 new. Most circulating notes from this period survived only as worn remainders; the economic chaos that made them necessary also ensured they were used hard.