1/2 Real Type IV Countermark

El Salvador had no mint of its own in the early 1860s, so the government authorized countermarking foreign silver to legitimize it for domestic circulation. These pieces are host coins — typically Guatemalan, Mexican, or other Central American half-reales — that were officially punched to circulate as Salvadoran currency. The countermark itself is the coin; the host is incidental, and its origin often determines collector value more than the punch does.