Honduras 1931 50 centavos

from the Mountain Groan Collection

In 1931, the government of Honduras reformed the currency. The peso was dropped and the lempira adopted, with the exchange rate fixed at US$1 = 2 lempiras. A new series of coins were issued, a silver lempira, fifty centavos (shown here), twenty centavos and copper-nickel five and ten centavos. Bronze one and two centavos were added later. The new coins marked the first new issues since the early 1920's; all were minted outside the country and the old mint in Tegucigalpa closed for good. The 1931 is the first date of the type, which was struck again in 1932, 1937 and 1951.

Recorded mintage: 500,000 (scarcest of the four dates).

Specification: 6.25 g, 0.900 fine silver, .180 troy oz ASW, 23.8 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM 74.

Source:

• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• Robinson, Charles, The Coins of Central America, 1733-1965, San Benito, TX: 1965.
• Stickney, Brian, A Monetary History of Central America, New York: American Numismatic Society, 2017.

Link to:

• 1931 5 centavos
• 1931 lempira
• 1932 50 centavos
• Coins and currency dated 1931
• return to Honduras