Catalog
40 Centavos
| Issuer | Chile |
|---|---|
| Year | 1907-1908 |
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| Composition | Billon (.400 silver) |
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| Obverse description | A defiant Andean condor, wings partially spread, perches in left profile atop a rocky outcrop at center, rendered in fine detail with feather texturing throughout. The bird's talons grip the rock firmly, conveying the characteristic aggressive posture of the Chilean national emblem. The circular legend REPUBLICA DE CHILE arcs along the upper periphery in raised Latin characters. The field is plain, and the coin is bordered by a continuous beaded inner rim. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | 1907 So - - 56,000 1908 So - overdate variety exists - 1,452,000 |
| Additional information |
Chile's billon coinage of this period was a stopgap measure born from silver price volatility — by the early 1900s, maintaining higher-fineness fractional coins had become fiscally untenable as global silver markets fluctuated sharply following the demonetization waves of the 1870s and 1880s. The .400 standard was a deliberate compromise, preserving the appearance of a silver coin while slashing the metal content enough to keep production solvent.
The issue ran only two years before Chile's monetary reforms pushed toward a more rationalized coinage structure.