20 Centavos Trial Strike

Trial strikes in lead were standard practice at several European contract mints when bidding for or confirming new coinage contracts with South American republics. Bolivia's centavo coinage of this period was produced at the Paris and Potosí mints, and lead piedforts or trial pieces were submitted to government assayers as proof of die fidelity before bronze or cupro-nickel blanks were authorized for full production runs.

Lead specimens almost never entered circulation and survived primarily in official archive sets or the collections of mint personnel.