10 Lempiras

Thomas De La Rue printed this series for Honduras across a twelve-year window, an unusually long run for a denomination that saw heavy daily use. The Lempira is named after the sixteenth-century Lenca chieftain who resisted Spanish conquest — his death around 1537, likely through treachery during peace negotiations, made him a national martyr long before there was a nation to claim him.

Notes from the later end of this date range show noticeably accelerated wear on circulated examples, a known characteristic of the series attributed to high transaction volume in urban markets during Honduras's economic expansion of the early 2000s.