Chile 1790-So 1/4 real

from the San Dimas collection

This scarce and tiny coin was struck in Santiago, Chile, 1790-91. This mint switched to the conventional "lions and castles" type in 1796. Lima is also recorded as striking portrait 1/4 reales 1792-95 but the bust is of Charles IV, not Charles III as depicted here. The other colonial mints struck "lions and castles" 1/4 reales only. The catalog value is much too low for this type, which appears in auctions once a year or so.

Recorded mintage: 322,000.

Specification: .84 g, .896 fine silver, .024 troy oz ASW.

Catalog reference: Cayón-13109, KM 43.

Source:

• Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
• Calicó, Xavier, Numismática Española: Catálogo General con Precios de Todas las Monedas Españolas Acuñadas desde Los Reyes Católicos Hasta Juan Carlos I, 1474 a 2001, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2008.
• Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.

Link to:

• 1781 2 reales
• 1790 4 reales
• 1790 8 reales
• 1790 4 escudos
• 1790 8 escudos
• 1791 ¼ real, CAROL·IV
• 1791 ¼ real, CAROL·IIII
• Coins and currency dated 1790
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