10 Leones

The Bank of Sierra Leone's early note series, of which this is part, was issued during a period of acute economic strain following the commodity price shocks of the late 1970s. Sierra Leone's dependence on iron ore and diamond exports left government finances deeply exposed, and inflation eroded the Leone's purchasing power steadily through this period — meaning circulated examples from the later end of the 1980 to 1984 date range reflect genuine heavy use.

Thomas De La Rue held the printing contract for Sierra Leone's notes across multiple series. The watermark security on this issue was relatively modest by De La Rue's own standards for the period.