20 Centavos

Paraguay's coin production in this period was entirely contracted to foreign mints — these pieces were struck in Heaton's Mint in Birmingham, a facility responsible for a remarkable share of Latin American minor coinage during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The country had emerged from the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870) with its male population reduced by an estimated 60–90%, its treasury gutted, and no meaningful domestic minting infrastructure.

The Birmingham provenance is confirmed by the "H" mintmark on surviving examples.