2 Centésimos

Uruguay suspended bronze coinage during World War II when tin and zinc — components of the alloy — were diverted to Allied war production. The switch to pure copper for this denomination was a direct consequence of that materials shortage, not a design decision. Production continued into the early 1950s well after the war ended, largely because the postwar economic adjustment left little incentive to reformulate the alloy until inflationary pressure eventually made the coins themselves worth more as metal than as currency.