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| Issuer | Republic of Nicaragua (William Walker Administration) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1856-1857 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | El Nicaraguense Print |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | MILITARY SCRIPT TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS The Republic of Nicaragua EL NICARAGUENSE PRINT. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our names and affixed the Great Seal of the Republic President of the Republic. Minister of Hacienda. |
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| Signature(s) | W. Walker (President of the Republic) and Minister of Hacienda |
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| Comments |
William Walker, the Tennessee-born filibustero who seized control of Nicaragua in 1856 and had himself elected president, issued this military scrip through the press of his own English-language newspaper, El Nicaraguense, in Granada. It is among the very few examples of a private American mercenary operation producing sovereign currency — a detail that makes this note genuinely anomalous in any collection. Walker's administration lasted less than two years before a coalition of Central American forces drove him out in 1857; his currency never achieved anything close to stable acceptance.
The dry seal was the only concession to security. With a newspaper press as your mint, that was the available option.