50 Centésimos

Uruguay's shift to aluminium coinage in the mid-1960s was driven by chronic inflation that had eroded the peso's purchasing power to the point where the metal value of older cupro-nickel pieces threatened to exceed their face value. The 50 centésimos denomination, essentially fractional currency by this point, was among the first retooled in the cheaper alloy. Within a decade, inflation had rendered even these coins economically irrelevant, and Uruguay redenominated its currency entirely in 1975, replacing the peso at 1,000-to-1.