Ecuador's shift to nickel clad steel for this denomination in 1964 was a direct response to rising global copper and nickel prices that had made the earlier solid-nickel planchets increasingly expensive to produce. The change was part of a broader regional trend across Latin American mints during the 1960s as silver and base-metal costs outpaced face values across small-denomination coinage.
Ecuador's shift to nickel clad steel for this denomination in 1964 was a direct response to rising global copper and nickel prices that had made the earlier solid-nickel planchets increasingly expensive to produce. The change was part of a broader regional trend across Latin American mints during the 1960s as silver and base-metal costs outpaced face values across small-denomination coinage.