5 Centavos

Guatemala's silver minor coinage survived into the 1950s largely by institutional inertia — most neighboring republics had abandoned silver for small denominations well before mid-century. The alloy here, 720 fine, was the same standard the country had used for fractional silver since the 1920s, a deliberate continuity that reflected the Banco de Guatemala's conservative monetary policy in the years following the 1944 revolution that ousted Jorge Ubico.

These were among the last silver 5-centavo pieces Guatemala would strike before the denomination moved to cupro-nickel.