2 Reales Type II Countermark

In the early 1830s, El Salvador faced a chronic shortage of reliable coinage as the Central American Federation began fracturing. Rather than strike original coin, Salvadoran authorities applied a countermark to existing 2 Reales pieces — primarily Guatemalan and Mexican issues already in circulation — to authenticate and officially sanction them for domestic use. The Type II punch is distinct from the earlier Type I, though attribution of individual pieces to one type or the other depends heavily on the specific host coin and the placement and sharpness of the applied mark.

Host coin condition governs everything here. The countermark itself is often the cleaner element.