1 Peso Fuerte Trial Peso del Sitio

During the Guerra Grande — Uruguay's catastrophic civil conflict that drew in Argentina, Brazil, and European powers — Montevideo endured a siege lasting over eight years, from 1843 to 1851. Cut off from normal commerce, the besieged government improvised monetary solutions to keep the city's economy functioning. This lead piece is a pattern struck in that context, almost certainly never intended for general circulation, which explains its survival in any recognizable condition at all.

KM#Pn1 is the only catalogued pattern of this type. The use of lead rather than silver was not an aesthetic choice.