20 000 Nuevos Pesos Visit of Spanish King and Queen, Trial strike

Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía visited Uruguay in November 1983, arriving during the final months of the military dictatorship that had ruled since 1973. Elections were already scheduled; the civilian transition would come in 1984. The timing of a commemorative gold issue — and a trial strike at that — reflects the institutional awkwardness of a government simultaneously courting international legitimacy and preparing to hand over power.

Trial strikes of this type rarely entered circulation channels and typically exist in single-digit quantities per known example.