This is a pattern piece, not a circulation strike — KM#PnA2 designates it as one of the earliest coinage experiments conducted after Chilean independence was secured in 1818. The new republic had no established mint infrastructure capable of producing copper coinage at scale, and pattern trials like this one were struck to test designs and dies before any commitment to production.
No regular copper 8 escudos was ever issued for circulation. The denomination itself is an anomaly — the escudo was a gold unit, making a copper rendition in that denomination a purely experimental exercise.
This is a pattern piece, not a circulation strike — KM#PnA2 designates it as one of the earliest coinage experiments conducted after Chilean independence was secured in 1818. The new republic had no established mint infrastructure capable of producing copper coinage at scale, and pattern trials like this one were struck to test designs and dies before any commitment to production.
No regular copper 8 escudos was ever issued for circulation. The denomination itself is an anomaly — the escudo was a gold unit, making a copper rendition in that denomination a purely experimental exercise.