Honduras P105 200 Lempiras 2019 UNC—Parrot—Macaw—Independence Commemorative

A vivid commemorative celebrating Honduras's 200th anniversary of independence — pairing the country's educational aspirations on the front with its most iconic wildlife on the back: the Scarlet Macaw soaring over one of Central America's last great rainforest biospheres.

Front

• Colors: magenta/rose dominant; multicolor underprint with blue, green, and gold security elements
• Central vignette: Honduras Province Government Building (1821) at right; scholars with a teacher in a wheelchair under the Honduran flag, set on an open book — symbolizing education
• Security strip: windowed holographic security strip at left center
• Color-match device: "200" and "BCH" perfect-match registration device at top left
• Accessibility: raised Braille code lower left; two raised slanted bars on sides for visually impaired identification
• Commemorative text: Viva la Independencia / 1821–2021; date of issue: 24 de octubre de 2019
• Signatures: Wilfredo Cerrato R. (President) / Aracely O'Hara Guillén (Manager) / Rocío I. Tábora Morales (Finance Secretary)

Back

• Colors: deep green and blue dominant; natural rainforest tones
• Central scene: two Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao) — the national bird of Honduras — in flight over the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve
• Bank seal: round Central Bank of Honduras seal at lower right; "Fundado en 1950"
• Text: BIÓSFERA DEL RÍO PLÁTANO / GUARA ROJA / DOSCIENTOS LEMPIRAS; Al Servicio de la Nación
• Printer imprint: G+D Currency Technology

Other Characteristics

• Catalog numbers: P105; TBB B355; Numista N#281669
• Watermark: scroll with date of Honduran independence and feather quill; electrotype "BCH"
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 151 × 67 mm
• Issuing entity: Central Bank of Honduras (Banco Central de Honduras), founded 1950
• Printer: Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), Leipzig, Germany (1852–date)
• Issue date: October 24, 2019
• Currency: Honduran Lempira (1931–date)

Two Hundred Years of Independence

Honduras declared independence from Spain on 15 September 1821 — the same day as Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, in a single collective declaration. This note commemorates the bicentennial of that moment, issued in 2019 to mark the lead-up to the 2021 anniversary. The front scene is deliberately symbolic: a teacher in a wheelchair instructing students beneath the national flag, set against the 1821 government building — a statement that Honduras's next 200 years will be built on education and inclusion.

The Bird on the Back

The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) — known in Honduras as Guara Roja — is the national bird of Honduras, and one of the most visually spectacular parrots on Earth. It soars here over the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve — a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering over 800,000 hectares of Mosquito Coast rainforest, one of the largest intact tropical forests remaining in Central America. The reserve is home to Miskito and Pech indigenous communities who have lived there for centuries.

G+D: The Printer Behind the Note

Giesecke+Devrient, founded in 1852 in Leipzig, is one of the world's leading security printing companies — printing banknotes for over 100 central banks globally. They also printed the original Deutsche Mark and are a key supplier to the European Central Bank.

Own this note and you hold Honduras's bicentennial pride in your hands — a wheelchair teacher, two scarlet macaws, and 200 years of independence pressed into a single commemorative sheet.

About Honduras

• Origin of name: From Spanish honduras ("depths") — attributed to Christopher Columbus on his fourth voyage in 1502, reportedly exclaiming "Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas honduras" after navigating treacherous coastal waters
• Capital: Tegucigalpa (city pop. ~1.4 million; metro ~1.9 million)
  • Origin of name of Tegucigalpa: From Nahuatl — most likely meaning "silver hills" or "place of silver," referencing the colonial-era silver mines in the region
• Population: ~10.6 million (UN 2024) — comparable to Michigan or Ohio
• 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); Miskito, Garifuna, and other indigenous languages spoken regionally
• 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

• The original "Banana Republic": The term banana republic was coined specifically about Honduras in 1904 by O. Henry, after the United Fruit Company came to dominate the country's economy, politics, and infrastructure — at its peak controlling more land than the Honduran government itself.
• 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.
• Maya heartland: The ancient Copán ruins in western Honduras are one of the most important Maya archaeological sites in the world, renowned for their extraordinary sculptural detail and hieroglyphic stairway.
• Río Plátano in danger: The Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve — depicted on this note — was placed on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger in 2011 due to illegal logging, poaching, and land encroachment, though conservation efforts have continued.
• 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.