500 Nuevos Pesos

By 1989, Uruguay's currency had been through a decade of sustained devaluation — the "nuevo peso" system introduced in 1975 replaced the old peso at 1,000:1, and inflation continued eating through even that reformed unit. A 500-nuevo-peso coin, worth roughly equivalent to a few U.S. cents at the time, reflects just how far purchasing power had collapsed before the country eventually redenominated again with the peso uruguayo in 1993, dropping three more zeros.