4 Reales

Ecuador's 4 reales of this period were struck at the Quito mint under chronic production difficulties — the facility struggled with inconsistent silver supply and unreliable local assayers throughout the 1850s, contributing to the notoriously uneven alloy fineness found across surviving examples. The .666 fineness itself was a deliberate reduction from earlier colonial standards, adopted as the young republic struggled to retain enough silver domestically while servicing foreign debt obligations.

KM#37 is known with multiple die pairings across its short run, and pieces from 1855 frequently show irregular edge treatment attributable to a worn collar press that was not replaced until 1856.