1 Balboa

Panama's balboa has never physically circulated in paper form — the country uses U.S. dollars for banknotes while minting its own coinage at parity. The 1 balboa pieces of this period were struck largely for collector sales rather than commerce, a revenue strategy the Panamanian government leaned on heavily after the Canal Zone agreements of 1977 reshaped the country's fiscal relationship with Washington.

The .500 fineness on this type replaced earlier 40% silver issues, then was itself discontinued as silver content became economically untenable by the early 1980s.