Throughout the rest of the nineteenth century, the monetary policy established by the conservative governments (1831-1861) remained in place. Copper and bronze coins were minted for lower-value centavos, widely used in everyday life, while higher denominations continued to be struck in silver. These centavo coins often featured the female personification of the Republic, together with mottos such as “Economy is Wealth”, and denominations that are rarely seen today, such as ½ centavo or 2½ centavos.

During the government of Manuel Montt (1851-1861), the denomination real, inherited from the colonial period, was finally abandoned and the peso was fully adopted as the monetary unit. During these decades, the Andean condor also became a central motif in the iconography of Chilean coinage. In fact, during the Liberal governments (1861-1891), some designs acquired popular nicknames based on their appearance. The condors shown on coins of the 1860s were known as Paloma (“Dove”), because they appeared flying with outstretched wings, or Pechugón (“Broad-chested”), because of their prominent chest. Those minted between the 1870s and 1890s were nicknamed Águila (“Eagle”), as they showed the national bird perched on a rock in a defiant pose. The century ended with a new condor design commissioned from the French engraver Oscar Roty, which would become one of the most characteristic and frequently repeated motifs in twentieth-century Chilean numismatics.

Following the War of the Pacific (1879-1884), coin production increased significantly. The mineral wealth incorporated into national territory made it possible to expand monetary production well beyond earlier decades. At the same time, the final decades of the nineteenth century saw the first banknotes circulate in Chile, issued by private banks such as Banco de Curicó and Banco Caupolicán, among others. These banknotes had to be backed by sufficient gold in order to guarantee their value to users, at a time when no central bank yet existed to regulate the issue of currency.