2 Reales

Ecuador's 2 Reales of 1862 belongs to the colonial-weight silver system the republic inherited from Spain and stubbornly retained well into the mid-nineteenth century, even as neighboring states converted to decimal coinage. The .666 fineness reflects a deliberate debasement from the colonial standard — a compromise between maintaining recognizable silver currency and stretching limited bullion reserves.

KM#40 was struck at Quito under chronic production constraints. The dies for this period are notoriously inconsistent, and planchet preparation was irregular enough that few examples emerge without adjustment marks or weak areas on the high relief.