2 Pesos

Chile's government-issued peso notes of this period emerged from a monetary crisis rather than routine policy. The 1878 suspension of gold convertibility — pushed through as Chilean banks buckled under the strain of a global credit contraction — left the state issuing paper currency directly, bypassing the commercial banking system that had previously handled note circulation. This series was produced across a decade-long window during which convertibility was not restored, and the notes functioned as inconvertible fiat in everything but name.

The American Bank Note Company held a near-monopoly on South American government printing work through this period, which partly explains the visual consistency across otherwise unrelated issuing authorities from Buenos Aires to Santiago.