4 Reales State of Honduras - Provisional

Honduras declared independence from the Central American Federation in 1838 but spent the following decades without a stable monetary infrastructure. The Casa Nacional de la Moneda in Tegucigalpa issued provisional copper coinage throughout the 1850s largely because silver supplies were unreliable — the mines that had sustained colonial-era minting were either exhausted or inaccessible due to chronic political instability. Leaded copper was a pragmatic substitute, not a considered metallurgical choice.

KM#20e is one of several documented varieties within this provisional series, distinguished by die characteristics that reflect the rudimentary striking conditions of the Tegucigalpa facility.