5 Colones

The Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador leaned heavily on American Bank Note Company throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a period when the country's civil war — which ran from 1979 to 1992 — created genuine logistical problems for currency management. Notes from this series circulated under conditions of significant economic stress, with inflation and capital flight both accelerating after 1980.

ABNC's engraved intaglio work on Salvadoran issues of this period is technically accomplished, though the 5 Colones denomination saw the heaviest everyday use and survivors in clean condition are correspondingly harder to find. The date range spanning 1983–1988 reflects multiple print runs rather than a single issue.