1 Centavo Pattern strike

Nicaragua's coinage history in the 1860s is fragmented and poorly documented, and this pattern is a direct artifact of that instability. The young republic was still negotiating the basic infrastructure of a national monetary system, and pattern strikes from this period were almost certainly produced at a foreign mint — most probably in Birmingham or Paris — to demonstrate viability before any production contract was awarded. No regular-issue 1 centavo in copper was struck for 1860, which is precisely why this piece exists: it never made it past the proposal stage.