5 Dollars

The National Bank of Liberia's late-1980s notes were issued against a backdrop of severe economic deterioration — the Doe government's mismanagement had already triggered a near-total collapse of public finances before the civil war formally began in December 1989. This particular series, printed by De La Rue in London, was being produced and circulated precisely as the country was sliding toward the violence that would make normal banking operations impossible within months.

By 1990, the central bank itself had effectively ceased functioning. Notes from this issue that survived the subsequent decade of conflict are often found in poor condition, having passed through years of informal circulation when no replacement supply was available.