Catalog
50 Córdobas
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de Nicaragua |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942-1945 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Purple on multicolor underprint. A classical allegorical vignette at left presents two female figures with wheat laureates, echoing the design composition of P#68. The face carries the denomination numeral and full legal tender text in intaglio printing against a fine guilloche underprint. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in golden-ochre on plain paper. The Nicaraguan Coat of Arms is centrally positioned, rendered as an equilateral triangle enclosing a volcanic landscape with a rising sun, surrounded by the circular legend REPÚBLICA DE NICARAGUA / AMÉRICA CENTRAL. Large denomination numerals "50" appear within ornate guilloche medallions at left and right, with the word value CINCUENTA CÓRDOBAS inscribed along the lower margin beneath the central vignette. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional de Nicaragua held an unusual dual role throughout this period — functioning simultaneously as the country's central bank and as a commercial institution, a structural oddity that persisted until the establishment of the Banco Central in 1960. Notes of this series were printed by the American Bank Note Company under contract arrangements that were standard practice for Central American issuers who lacked domestic printing infrastructure capable of producing secure currency.
The wartime years of this note's issue window complicated dollar-denominated trade and foreign exchange management across Nicaragua, as Allied shipping priorities disrupted regional commerce. The 50 córdoba denomination circulated primarily in commercial and government transactions rather than retail use — a sum well beyond daily wages for most Nicaraguans in the early 1940s.