Ecuador's 2 Sucre silver coinage of this period was produced under wartime conditions that severely disrupted South American metal supplies. The .720 fineness reflects a broader regional trend of reducing silver content from the pre-war .900 standard — a fiscal adjustment that Ecuador made incrementally across the 1930s and into the 1940s as the sucre came under sustained pressure from falling cacao and petroleum export revenues.
The Banco Central del Ecuador, founded only in 1927, was still a relatively young institution managing currency through its first major global conflict. Philadelphia Mint struck these on contract.
Ecuador's 2 Sucre silver coinage of this period was produced under wartime conditions that severely disrupted South American metal supplies. The .720 fineness reflects a broader regional trend of reducing silver content from the pre-war .900 standard — a fiscal adjustment that Ecuador made incrementally across the 1930s and into the 1940s as the sucre came under sustained pressure from falling cacao and petroleum export revenues.
The Banco Central del Ecuador, founded only in 1927, was still a relatively young institution managing currency through its first major global conflict. Philadelphia Mint struck these on contract.