4 Escudos - Fernando VII Large Draped Bust

Fernando VII was a king in name only during most of this coin's production run — held captive by Napoleon at Valençay while Joseph Bonaparte sat on the Spanish throne. The Lima Mint continued striking in his name throughout the occupation years, making these issues simultaneously acts of colonial loyalty and political defiance against the French-imposed regime in Madrid.

The "Large Draped Bust" distinction separates this type from the earlier imaginary portrait issues struck before an official likeness reached the Americas. By 1812, Lima had received the sanctioned bust design, though transitional die combinations from this period are documented.