Bernardo O'Higgins governed Chile as Supreme Director from 1817 until forced into exile by conservative landowners and the Church in 1823, dying in Peru in 1842 without ever returning. Chile repatriated his remains in 1869. The 1976–1977 issue falls squarely within Pinochet's military government, which aggressively promoted O'Higgins as a nationalist symbol — his image on circulating coinage was a deliberate political choice during a period when the junta was reshaping public iconography to suit its own legitimacy.
Bernardo O'Higgins governed Chile as Supreme Director from 1817 until forced into exile by conservative landowners and the Church in 1823, dying in Peru in 1842 without ever returning. Chile repatriated his remains in 1869. The 1976–1977 issue falls squarely within Pinochet's military government, which aggressively promoted O'Higgins as a nationalist symbol — his image on circulating coinage was a deliberate political choice during a period when the junta was reshaping public iconography to suit its own legitimacy.