The United States notes are normally the official currency in Panama. The only Panama notes were issued under the Government of President Arnulfo Arias that were legal tender in Panama only from October 2 through October 9, 1941. Thus they are known as the "Arias" issue or the Seven Day Notes. The anti-American President took a trip to Cuba on October 9th to visit his paramour. This trip was not authorized by the National Assembly and they ousted him from power. The notes were recalled and most were destroyed.

Front: Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1475-1519), Spanish Conquistador and Explorer

Balboa was born in Estremadura, Spain. He was poor and uneducated. In 1501 he joined an expedition to explore the northern coast of present-day Colombia. Later he settled in a new Spanish colony, Santa Maria de la Antigua, in present-day Panama. In 1511 the king appointed Balboa interim governor. He was appointed supreme commander of the colony in 1513. The same year he organized an expedition in search of a great body of water that he had heard about from the natives. He found the Pacific Ocean, the first European to see it from the Americas. Upon his return to the colony, he found the king had appointed a new governor who disliked him. He was falsely accused of treason, convicted and decapitated in 1519.

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