Can anyone tell me what this coin is and should I keep it or ????????? Got this on a recent trip to South America.
It's an 1866 Chilean 20 centavos, 4.6g .900 silver, ASW .1331 oz., mintage 4,298,000 at Santiago (S over o mintmark, between "CHILE" and "CENT" on the reverse). The five-pointed star in the center of the shield is completely worn away, so my grade has to be G-4 obverse, P=0 reverse, overall AG-1. My 2001 19th Century Krause lists the coin at $2 VG, so this one's approximate bullion value of $1.84 is many times its numismatic value. If you have a collection in which it fits (for example, one per country, 19th Century silver, etc.), then you should keep it. Since I already have a much higher grade 19th Century Chilean coin in my one per collection, personally I would give it to a YN. The legend on the obverse translates as "For the reason or the force", and represents the official motto of Chile. I have been unsuccessful in finding any rational explanation of it's meaning through Google. I did find one almost incoherent blog in which the writer seemed to think it meant something to the effect "If you can't win through reasoning, use force".
I translate the motto as 'By reason or by force'. I'm guessing that they mean the diplomatic option is the first to try.
