1 Peso 1888 Copper Pattern

Paraguay's monetary history in the late 1880s was still recovering from the catastrophic aftermath of the War of the Triple Alliance, which had ended in 1870 and left the country with perhaps 10% of its prewar male population. Pattern coinage from this period reflects repeated, largely unsuccessful attempts to establish a stable national currency. The 1888 copper peso pattern was never adopted for circulation — Paraguay continued relying on foreign coins and paper issues of dubious backing well into the following decade.