1 Centavo Taino Artifact, Zinc

The "Taino Artifact" centavo series was introduced in the 1980s as part of a broader Dominican recoinage that shifted away from the founding-era iconography the republic had used for decades. The copper-plated zinc composition adopted during this period was a cost-driven response to rising metal prices throughout Latin America — a problem that forced numerous Caribbean and Central American mints to abandon traditional bronze or brass flans entirely during the same decade.

KM#72 replaced the earlier KM#17 type that had circulated since the 1930s.