80 Centavos Fuertes Pattern

Argentina's monetary system in the 1870s was a mess of provincial emissions, foreign coins, and paper currency of uncertain value. The "fuertes" denomination — meaning strong or hard currency — was part of a proposed unified national coinage that never fully materialized. This 1879 pattern was struck as a trial piece during deliberations that preceded the country's eventual adoption of the peso moneda nacional in 1881, rendering the entire fuertes series obsolete before it ever circulated.

Patterns of this type were almost certainly struck at very low numbers, likely for official examination only.