5 Centavos

The .2a designation marks a compositional shift — Nicaragua moved from cupro-nickel to nickel clad steel during the early 1970s as global metal costs climbed following the collapse of Bretton Woods. The 1972 issue arrived the same year the Managua earthquake of December 23rd killed an estimated 10,000 people and effectively destroyed the central government's fiscal infrastructure, making routine coinage production and distribution a secondary concern in the months that followed.