Catalog
1/4 Real
| Issuer | Chile |
|---|---|
| Year | 1832-1834 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.84 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | UN CUART. S (Translation: One quarter, S = Santiago mint) |
| Reverse description | The reverse mirrors the typographic arrangement of the obverse within a beaded border, displaying the denomination in three lines across the plain field: 'UN' on the top line, 'CUART.' in the center, and the four-digit date '1832' at the foot. The bold serif lettering is cleanly struck with good relief. No pictorial motif, coat of arms, or additional ornament appears, reflecting the minimal design vocabulary adopted for this small subsidiary silver denomination. |
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| Additional information |
Chile's fractional silver coinage of the early 1830s was issued under acute practical pressure — the new republic desperately needed small-denomination currency for everyday transactions that larger silver reales simply couldn't facilitate. The Santiago mint, operating under significant post-independence constraints, produced these quarter reales in limited quantities across the three-year window, which accounts for the relative difficulty in locating problem-free survivors today.
The .902 fineness matches the old colonial standard Chile inherited and deliberately retained to maintain public confidence in the new national coinage.