500 Leones

Sierra Leone's economy was deteriorating badly by 1991 — the civil war that would consume the country for a decade had just begun, and inflation was already eroding purchasing power well before the worst of the conflict hit Freetown. The 500 Leones denomination, substantial for its moment of issue, lost practical significance with remarkable speed as currency devaluation accelerated through the mid-1990s.

Thomas De La Rue produced the note to their usual technical standard, with a watermark as the primary security feature — modest by contemporary expectations, but consistent with the series.