50 Centavos

El Salvador's monetary system through much of the mid-twentieth century was tightly bound to coffee export revenues, and the Banco Central de Reserva adjusted coinage accordingly — shifting composition as nickel prices and domestic industrial policy dictated. The 1970 nickel-clad steel issue reflects post-1960s cost-cutting common across Latin American mints, while the heavier 1977 nickel striking came just as the country was entering the political turbulence that would precede the civil war of 1979–1992.

The two compositions under KM#140 are sometimes conflated in collections, but the weight differential alone distinguishes them without chemical testing.