20 Centavos

KM#83a marks the switch from the earlier cupronickel composition of the 20 centavos to nickel-plated steel, a cost-driven retooling that coincided with Honduras managing the fiscal fallout from the late 1980s structural adjustment programs imposed under IMF conditionality. The lempira had shed purchasing power steadily through the 1990s, and the central bank's shift to cheaper planchets was consistent with monetary management priorities of the period.

The type ran for nearly three decades without significant design revision — unusual longevity for a Central American minor denomination.