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500 Naira
| Issuer | Central Bank of Nigeria |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001-2022 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Naira (500 NGN) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | An intaglio vignette of an offshore oil drilling platform, rendered in red-brown tones within an oval guilloche frame, occupies the right half of the note over a blue underprint evoking open water, symbolising Nigeria's petroleum industry. The Nigerian Coat of Arms appears in blue intaglio at lower centre-right, accompanied by the denomination in words in script lettering. Corner rosettes and geometric medallions in red and blue anchor each quadrant of the note. |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Variants | P#30a - 2001 & 2002 P#30b - 2004 P#30d - 2005 P#30e - 2005 P#30f - 2006 P#30g - 2007 P#30h(1) - 2009 P#30h(2) - 2009 P#30i - 2010 P#30j - 2011 P#30k - 2012 P#30l - 2013 P#30m(1) - 2014 P#30m(2) - 2014 P#30n - 2015 P#30o - 2016 P#30p - 2017 |
| Comments |
Nigeria's 500 Naira note was introduced in April 2001 — the highest denomination in circulation at the time and a direct response to inflation that had eroded the practical use of the 200 Naira note introduced just a year earlier. The Central Bank had resisted pressure to issue it for years, concerned about signaling monetary distress, before practical necessity won out.
A polymer version was briefly trialled in 2007 but quietly withdrawn, leaving the cotton paper format to persist across the full run of this series. The 2010 reissue added a color-shifting security ink to the thread, a detail frequently missed in authentication checks on older counterfeits still appearing in commerce.