10 Reales Silver Pattern

Paraguay had no functioning mint in 1855 — this piece was almost certainly produced in a foreign facility, most likely in response to the country's acute shortage of reliable coinage under Carlos Antonio López, who was actively attempting to formalize state institutions after decades of isolation under Francia. Pattern issues from this period are extraordinarily rare survivals; most never progressed to authorized production, leaving the monetary system dependent on foreign coins and crude copper pieces for ordinary transactions.