1 Céntimo Countermark over United States 1 Cent 1844

Paraguay's countermarking of American cents in 1865 was a wartime improvisation born of catastrophic circumstance. The War of the Triple Alliance, which began that same year, rapidly destroyed the country's capacity for normal commerce. With no mint of its own and monetary infrastructure collapsing under the combined pressure of Brazilian, Argentine, and Uruguayan forces, Paraguay resorted to validating foreign copper coinage already in circulation rather than produce new pieces.

The 1844 Philadelphia cent beneath the countermark is a Braided Hair type, struck over two decades before it received its Paraguayan authorization stamp.