Two years after the 1979 revolution Nicaragua put on its coins the man whose name the revolutionaries had taken: the 1981 25 centavos bears the profile of Augusto Sandino, signed «SANDINO», within the legend «REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA».

From 1927 to 1933 Sandino led armed resistance to the United States military presence in the country. The Sandinista National Liberation Front, founded in 1961, claimed his legacy and in 1979 overthrew the Somoza dictatorship, after which the nation’s coinage took on a new look.

On the reverse the value stands between two mottos: «EN DIOS CONFIAMOS» («In God we trust») and «PATRIA LIBRE O MORIR» («Free homeland or death»). A religious formula and a revolutionary slogan side by side on one coin is a hallmark of Nicaraguan coinage of the 1980s.

The series was short-lived: inflation in the 1980s eroded the córdoba, and in February 1988 it was exchanged for a new one at 1,000 to 1. In a collection this coin opens the Sandinista chapter that continues with the 1987 series showing Sandino’s hat.

UNC grade: the coin has never circulated, shows no wear and keeps its mint lustre; only minor marks from storage in bank bags are acceptable.

This coin is one of the items in the VPcoins catalogue, which brings together commemorative, circulation and bullion coins from around the world.