When the Central Bank of Nicaragua launched its new note family in October 2015, each denomination was dedicated to a region of the country. Five values, from 10 to 200 córdobas, were printed on polymer from the start; only the red 500, representing the west, stayed on cotton paper. The polymer 500 (P217) followed in 2019, completing a move to plastic the bank had begun in 2009. The note itself carries the date 18 October 2017.

The back design proved oddly timely. Within weeks of the paper 500 appearing, Momotombo erupted in late November 2015 — its first eruption since 1905. The 1,297 m cone rises on the shore of Lake Managua, and its story is tied to León Viejo: the city was abandoned in 1610 and rebuilt elsewhere, leaving ruins that survive to this day.

Polymer allowed security features paper could not carry: complex windows with G-Switch and Aurora effects, a gold IRIswitch iridescent band, Spark Live colour-shifting ink and a latent image. Paper and polymer 500s circulate side by side, which makes pairing the two an obvious collecting target. Uncirculated condition: never in circulation.