The Nicaraguan córdoba
Currency · NIO · C$ · 1 country
A decree of 20 March 1912 made the córdoba Nicaragua's unit of account, naming it after Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, founder of León and Granada. The Banco Central de Nicaragua has issued it since 1960. Inflation forced two replacements, in 1988 and 1990, and the ISO list still carries the currency under the name of the second one, the córdoba oro.
The sign
Nicaragua writes the córdoba as C$, the initial of the currency's name joined to the dollar-shaped $, set before the amount: C$100. The code NIO replaced NIC in 1991, and the ISO list still gives the name as Cordoba Oro.
- ISO code
- NIO
- ISO number
- 558
- Subunit
- centavo, 1/100
- ISO name
- Cordoba Oro
An amount, written out
C$1,234.50
- C$1,234.50English, SpanishNicaragua
The sign in code
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, UTF-8
- HTML
C$C$- CSS
content: "C\0024";- JavaScript
"C\u0024"- UTF-8
0x43 0x24- UTF-16
0x0043 0x0024- UTF-32
0x00000043 0x00000024
Where the Nicaraguan córdoba is the official currency
Nicaragua is the sole country listed. Its central bank has let the córdoba slide against the US dollar on a pre-announced crawl since 1992.
About the Nicaraguan córdoba
What Nicaragua paid with before the córdoba
From the arrival of the Spanish in 1502 until independence in 1821, Nicaraguans paid with cacao, Spanish coin and coins struck at mints in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Guatemala and elsewhere in the Americas. After independence the money in circulation was coin of the Central American Republic and foreign coin, from the United States, Britain, Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, which traders had to accept at equivalents in pesos set by law.
A market in León struck coins in 1859. The republic's own decimal coinage began in 1878 with a one-centavo piece, a hundredth of a peso. Some estate owners paid workers in private tokens called contraseñas or fichas, which could be spent on the estate. The Treasury issued the country's first notes in 1879, in pesos, and from 1888 private banks such as the Banco de Nicaragua and the Banco Agrícola Mercantil issued their own.
How the córdoba came into being
The Banco Nacional de Nicaragua, founded in 1912, received the exclusive right to run the new monetary system and to issue notes and coins. The monetary conversion law followed, passed by decree of the National Constituent Assembly on 20 March 1912. Political instability held the currency back for a year. Notes of 1 to 100 córdobas and coins of 1 to 50 centavos went into circulation in March 1913.
When the Banco Central de Nicaragua was founded in 1960, it took over the issue of notes and coins from the Banco Nacional.
Why the córdoba was replaced twice
High inflation from 1979 onward drained the currency's value. In the exchange of 14 February 1988 the government replaced the córdoba with the córdoba nuevo at a thousand to one, an operation known as Operación Berta. Inflation carried on into 1990. Decree 23-90 of 26 June 1990 then converted the córdoba nuevo into the córdoba oro, at par with the US dollar.
To anchor prices, the central bank adopted a pre-announced crawl of the córdoba against the dollar in 1992. The currency has slid against the dollar on that schedule since. The code changed too: before 1991 the córdoba was NIC, and today it is NIO.
Which notes the central bank has issued since
The bank updates its notes periodically to keep them secure. It issued new families in 2003 and 2009, and the 2009 family included notes printed on polymer. The family of 2015 answered demand for cash, replaced worn notes, added newer security features and brought in pictures of buildings, landscapes and traditions from across Nicaragua.
The coinage has changed with the regimes. A series of 1981 carried a portrait of Augusto César Sandino, and the last coins of the first córdoba, in 1987, showed his hat. The córdoba nuevo had no coins of its own.
Common questions
Questions about the Nicaraguan córdoba
Why is Nicaragua's currency called the córdoba?
It honours Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, the Spanish founder of the cities of León and Granada. The name was chosen in the monetary conversion law adopted by decree on 20 March 1912, and the first córdoba notes and coins circulated from March 1913.
What is the difference between the córdoba, the córdoba nuevo and the córdoba oro?
They are three currencies in a row. The original córdoba ran from 1912. After years of inflation that began in 1979, it was exchanged on 14 February 1988 for the córdoba nuevo at a thousand old córdobas to one. Inflation continued, and Decree 23-90 of 26 June 1990 replaced the córdoba nuevo with the córdoba oro, set at par with the US dollar. The ISO list still records the currency as Cordoba Oro under the code NIO. Since 1992 the central bank has let it slide against the dollar on a pre-announced schedule.
What does C$ mean on a Nicaraguan price tag?
C$ is the sign of the córdoba, the initial C of the name combined with $. It goes before the figure, so C$50 means fifty córdobas. Reference listings give the notes in the same form, from C$5 up to C$1000, and the coins from 10 centavos up to C$10. The C sets it apart from the plain $ of the US dollar, to which the córdoba oro was once pegged at par.
Are Nicaraguan banknotes plastic?
Some are. When the Banco Central de Nicaragua issued a new family of notes in 2009, it included notes printed on polymer, a substrate the bank describes as more secure and longer-lasting than paper. The bank issued another family in 2015 to replace worn notes and add newer security features.