2019-12-31 Tue

Chile is a long, narrow country stretching along South America's western edge, with more than 6,000km of Pacific Ocean coastline. Santiago, its capital, sits in a valley surrounded by the Andes and Chilean Coast Range mountains. The city's palm-lined Plaza de Armas contains the neoclassical cathedral and the National History Museum. The massive Parque Metropolitano offers swimming pools, a botanical garden, and zoo.

The Central Bank of Chile in Santiago serves as the central bank for the country. The Chilean currency is the Chilean peso (CLP). Chile is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations. The first Chilean peso was introduced in 1817, at a value of 8 Spanish colonial reales.

The first Chilean paper money was issued between 1840 and 1844 by the treasury of the Province of Valdivia, in denominations of 4 and 8 reales. In 1925, the Banco Central de Chile began issuing notes.

The note depicted in the image alongside is a 10 Escudos banknote in issue from 1967 to 1976. The obverse has the portrait of Jose Manuel Balmaceda Fernandez - 11th President of Chile to right. The reverse depicts the famous “Embrace of Maipú - Abrazo de Maipú” painting which depicts the "Embrace of Maipú" between José de San Martín and Bernardo O'Higgins after the victory in the Battle of Maipú, April 5th, 1818. This note has the portrait of General Bernardo O'Higgins as its watermark.

Image Courtesy: eBay.com