1 Escudo

Chile's early republican gold coinage was struck at the Santiago mint while the new government was still consolidating authority following independence from Spain in 1818. The escudo denominations retained the Spanish colonial weight and fineness standards almost unchanged — a pragmatic decision driven by the need for trade continuity with regional partners who trusted those specifications implicitly.

KM#85 spans a decade of production during which die quality and planchet preparation varied considerably, as the mint was operating under chronic material shortages and staff familiar with colonial-era techniques rather than trained republican engravers.