5 Centavos

Chile's small silver-copper coinage of this period was struck at a moment when the country's monetary system was under serious strain. The War of the Pacific had ended in 1884, but the fiscal aftermath — including prolonged suspension of silver convertibility and the eventual abandonment of the gold standard in 1898 — left Chilean coinage in a state of chronic instability well into the early twentieth century. Billon at .450 fine was a practical concession, keeping fractional coins in circulation without exhausting silver reserves.

The Santiago Mint, Casa de Moneda, handled production throughout this run.