50 Cordobas

Nicaragua's 1962 córdoba series arrived during the long tail of the Somoza family's grip on the country's financial institutions — the Banco Central itself had only been established in 1960, replacing the older Banco Nacional as the sole issuer of currency. The ABNC was the default printer for much of Central America's paper through this period, and the quality of the intaglio work here reflects that firm's mature production capabilities before its decline in the late 1970s.

Pick 111 is not a common survivor in higher grades. Nicaraguan notes of this era circulated hard in a cash-dependent economy, and the 50-córdoba denomination saw enough daily use to ensure that worn examples vastly outnumber sound ones.