2 Reales 'Co' Countermark over 1/2 of Bolivian 2 Reales 1801/4 Soles 1830

Paraguay's monetary situation during the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870) was catastrophic. Cut off from external trade by the combined blockade of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, the López government resorted to countermarking whatever silver circulated internally to assert official sanction and control hoarding. The 'Co' mark — attributed to the Asunción treasury — was applied to foreign and colonial pieces indiscriminately, including worn Bolivian reales decades out of their original circulation context.

The host coin's layered identity — a 1/2 of a Bolivian 2 Reales of 1801 cut and restruck as a 4 Soles in 1830 — means the countermark was applied to an already twice-repurposed piece of silver.