Catalog
1/2 Decimo Copper Pattern
| Issuer | Chile |
|---|---|
| Year | 1851 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Décimo (0.05) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Liberty facing left, her hair elaborately coiffed with curling waves and adorned with a cluster of berries or pellets atop the crown. The legend REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE curves along the periphery, divided left and right of the effigy. The engraver's name BARRE appears incuse in small capitals along the lower rim, identifying this as the work of Jacques-Jean Barre, chief engraver of the Paris Mint. The portrait closely resembles Barre's iconic Ceres-type design used on contemporary French coinage of the Second Republic period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Chile's decimal coinage reform was enacted in 1851, replacing the real-based colonial system with pesos and décimos. These copper pattern pieces were struck as part of the evaluation process before the new denominations entered production — the circulating coinage that followed was issued in silver, making a copper half décimo something that never reached the public in any intended form.
Pattern survivorship from mid-nineteenth-century Chilean issues is poorly documented, and attribution to specific striking facilities remains contested.