10 Leones

The Bank of Sierra Leone's early note series, of which this is part, was produced during a period when the leone had been in existence for less than two decades — the currency replaced the British West African pound only in 1964. By 1980, Sierra Leone was under the increasingly autocratic presidency of Siaka Stevens, whose economic mismanagement was already eroding public confidence in the currency. Inflation was climbing and would worsen sharply through the decade.

Thomas De La Rue's involvement was unremarkable for the region — they held contracts across Anglophone West Africa at this time — but the watermark-only security specification on P#13 is notably sparse for a 10 Leone denomination, which carried real purchasing power in 1980.