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5 Centesimos de Real
| Issuer | Republic of Uruguay |
|---|---|
| Year | 1855 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse displays a large numeral 5 at the center of a raised circular frame, surrounded by a wreath of laurel branches tied at the base with a ribbon bow. The legend CENTESIMOS arcs around the upper portion of the inner circle, separated from the numeral by a beaded ring. The wreath and border are neatly executed in a style consistent with mid-19th century South American coinage. A plain outer rim borders the entire design. |
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| Additional information |
Uruguay's earliest copper coinage was struck not in Montevideo but in Europe — this issue came from the Paris Mint, as the young republic lacked domestic minting infrastructure. The 1855 date places it squarely in the chaotic decade following independence consolidation, when the country was still rebuilding after the Guerra Grande, a devastating nine-year siege of Montevideo that had ended only in 1851 and left the national economy in ruins.
The centésimo system itself was newly adopted, replacing the older real-based accounting that this coin's denomination awkwardly straddles — five centésimos de real, a transitional unit that would be phased out within a generation.