1 Libra Pattern

In 1898, Peru's monetary authorities were weighing a transition that never materialized — adopting the libra as a gold circulation unit aligned with the British sovereign, which had already become the de facto trading currency along the Pacific coast. This copper piece was struck as a pattern to test the proposed denomination, not for circulation.

The project stalled. Peru retained the sol system, and these copper trials remained in official hands or escaped into collections through the usual quiet channels of the Casa de Moneda de Lima.