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Nicaragua. William Walker Military Script, 1856, $50 Banknote

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Paper Money - World Currency Start Price:9,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
Nicaragua. William Walker Military Script, 1856, $50 Banknote
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[?]Live Online Auction Starts In 2026 Jul 28 @ 11:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
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The auction will take place on July 28, 2026 at AIA's office located at 1060 Main St., Suite #202, River Edge, NJ 07661 beginning at 11:00 AM
Granada, Nicaragua. 31 day October 1856. Republic of Nicaragua, Military Script, $50, Pick# S132, Issued in Granada, made payable to E. S. Hardy for "Military Services rendered to the State", hand signed by William Walker as President of the Republic and also signed by the Minister of Hacienda. Printed on thin paper by El Nicaraguense Print, printed in black, with ornate side borders and bold title “FIFTY DOLLARS”. This example, serial number 1782, is PMG graded Very Fine 30 with notation of "Tears, Foreign Substance". The signatures, design elements, and embossing remain bold and distinct. This rare fiscal note is directly tied to one of the most turbulent episodes in Central American history. William Walker, an American physician, lawyer, and adventurer from Tennessee, launched a series of “filibustering” expeditions in Latin America during the 1850s. After failed attempts in Mexico, he turned to Nicaragua, where he exploited a civil conflict to seize power in 1856. Declaring himself President of Nicaragua, Walker sought to Americanize the country’s institutions, reinstated slavery (abolished years earlier), and attracted settlers and mercenaries from the United States. His regime provoked alarm among surrounding countries and was driven out within a year by a coalition of Central American states, and was executed in Honduras in 1860 after a later expedition failed. Notes of this issue are seldom encountered, and Walker’s signed notes and documents are highly prized for their direct connection to the Central America filibuster era and to one of the most controversial figures of 19th-century Central American history.