Chile - 500 Escudo 1971 Commemorative

Five Hundred Escudos

Series B2, s. Alfonso Inostroza / Jaime Barrios Meza

Dated 1971, P145

 Series B20, Eduardo Cano Quijada / Carlos Melina Orrega

Dated 1971, P145

 Series B28, s. Alfonso Inostroza / Jaime Barrios Meza

Dated 1971, P145

Reverse

This is an interesting 500 Escudo commemorative note issued in 1971. The note is printed with the following text "1971 ano de la nacionalizacion del cobre, salitre y hierro" (1971 year of the nationalization of copper, nitrate and iron). The note was issued to commemorate the nationalisation of the country's natural resources, copper, nitrate and iron. The nationalisation of natural resources was started by the government under the country's President of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo and culminated during the President Salvador Allende, who then completed the nationalization process. This process only affect foreign-owned section of the Chilean copper mining industry and involved mainly three large mines only. Local Chilean-owned smaller copper mines were not affected. This nationalisation act let to international economy boycott against the country which later caused the down fall of the Allende socialist government in 1973, following a coup d'etat carried out by army strong man Angusto Pinochet. President Allende did not survived the coup d'etat, and until now, it was not sure if he was assassinated by the coup plotters or he committed suicide. As you can see, there are two varieties for this issue. Both the designs are the same except the signatures. Both are also printed by Casa de Moneda de Chile. Here I have posted two notes with difference signature.