20 Centavos

Argentina's monetary reform of 1881 unified a chaotic patchwork of provincial currencies that had plagued commerce since independence — the Buenos Aires peso, the Córdoba real, and dozens of other regional issues had made domestic trade genuinely difficult. The national coinage law of November that year established the peso moneda nacional and authorized these silver pieces, struck at the Paris and Potosí mints depending on year.

The Potosí facility, by then operating under Argentine contract, produced notably fewer pieces across the series. Collectors distinguishing by mint mark will find the assayer-initialed Bolivian-struck pieces considerably harder to locate in problem-free condition.