Honduras P-96b 1 Lempira 2014 UNC—Lempira the Man—Copán Ruins

The lowest denomination in Honduras's current series — and arguably the most historically loaded: a 16th-century indigenous warrior who defied the Spanish Empire on one side, and one of the greatest Maya cities ever built on the other.

Front

• Colors: pale lavender/lilac background; deep red/crimson engraving throughout; gold/yellow underprint elements
• Portrait: Indio Lempira, Lenca chieftain and national hero of Honduras, right side, facing left; wearing traditional headdress
• Coat of arms: National arms of Honduras at left
• Accessibility: Braille denomination at right of portrait
• Text: REPÚBLICA DE HONDURAS, LIBRE, SOBERANA E INDEPENDIENTE / 15 DE SEPTIEMBRE 1821 / BANCO CENTRAL DE HONDURAS / UN LEMPIRA
• Signatures: Tábora (President) / Méndez (Manager) / Cerrato (Finance Secretary) — P96b, dated 12 June 2014

Back

• Colors: pale gold/cream background; deep red/crimson engraving throughout
• Central scene: Ruins of Copán — aerial view of the Ball Court and Hieroglyphic Stairway
• Text: BANCO CENTRAL DE HONDURAS / RUINAS DE COPAN / JUEGO DE PELOTA Y ESCALINATA / UN LEMPIRA
• Printer imprint: OBERTHUR FIDUCIAIRE

Other Characteristics

• Varieties: you may receive any variety: P96a (2012); P96b (2014) — this note; TBB# B344c (2016); TBB# B344d (2019); TBB# B344e (2022); TBB# B344f (2024)
• Catalog numbers: P96b; TBB# B344b; Numista N#203998
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 154 × 65 mm
• Issuing entity: Central Bank of Honduras (Banco Central de Honduras)
• Printer: Oberthur Fiduciaire, France (1984–date)
• Currency: Honduran Lempira (1931–date)

Lempira: The Man Who Said No to Spain

Lempira was a Lenca chieftain who in the 1530s united dozens of indigenous tribes to resist the Spanish conquest of Honduras. At his peak he commanded an estimated 30,000 warriors and held out for nearly two years from a fortified hilltop stronghold called Cerquín. The Spanish, unable to defeat him in battle, reportedly lured him to a peace negotiation and killed him treacherously in 1537. He was approximately 30 years old. Honduras named its currency after him in 1931 — making Lempira one of the few people in history to have an entire national currency bear their name.

Copán: The Athens of the Maya World

The Copán ruins depicted on the reverse are one of the most extraordinary Maya archaeological sites in the world — sometimes called the "Athens of the Maya" for the exceptional quality of their sculpture and hieroglyphic inscriptions. The Hieroglyphic Stairway alone contains the longest known Maya hieroglyphic text ever found — 2,200 individual glyphs carved into 63 steps. The adjacent Ball Court hosted the ancient pok-a-tok game, a ritual sport played across Mesoamerica for over 3,000 years. Copán is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Own this note and you hold Honduras's soul in miniature — a warrior who defied an empire, and a city that wrote its history in stone.

About Honduras

• Origin of name: Spanish for "depths" — Christopher Columbus reportedly exclaimed "Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas honduras" after navigating treacherous waters off the northern coast in 1502
• Capital: Tegucigalpa (city pop. ~1.4 million; metro ~1.9 million)
  • Origin of name of Tegucigalpa: From Nahuatl, variously interpreted as "silver hills" or "place of painted rocks" — a nod to the region's mineral wealth
• Population: ~10.6 million (UN 2024) — comparable to Michigan or Georgia
• Area: 112,492 km² / 43,433 mi² — slightly larger than Tennessee
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$6,800 (IMF 2024)
• Main exports: coffee (#1 export), bananas, palm oil, shrimp, textiles/apparel (maquiladoras)
• Borders: Guatemala (west), El Salvador (southwest), Nicaragua (east/southeast), Caribbean Sea (north), Pacific Ocean (south, Gulf of Fonseca)
• Official/spoken languages: Spanish (official); indigenous languages including Lenca, Garifuna, and Miskito
• Ethnicities: Mestizo (~90%), Indigenous (~7%), Garifuna (~2%), Afro-Honduran (~1%)
• Memberships: United Nations (1945); OAS; SICA; WTO; CAFTA-DR free trade agreement with US
• Sovereignty: Independent from Spain 15 September 1821; fully independent republic 1838 after dissolution of the Federal Republic of Central America

Honduras Unfiltered

• Named after a warrior: Honduras is one of the only countries whose currency is named after a specific indigenous resistance fighter — Lempira, who died resisting Spanish colonization nearly 500 years ago.
• The Soccer War: In 1969, Honduras and El Salvador fought a four-day war triggered by a World Cup qualifying match — though the underlying cause was land disputes and migration tensions.
• Copán's 2,200-glyph stairway: The Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copán is the longest known Maya text ever discovered — a dynastic history carved in stone that took scholars decades to decipher.
• Banana republic — literally: The term "banana republic" was coined partly with Honduras in mind, where United Fruit Company once controlled vast swaths of land, infrastructure, and political influence.
• Coffee powerhouse: Honduras is the largest coffee exporter in Central America and among the top 10 globally, with high-altitude growing regions producing specialty beans increasingly sought by third-wave roasters.