Throughout history, commemorative coins have been used to highlight events, figures, places and anniversaries, preserving their memory through money itself. Coins were already being minted for this purpose in the Roman Republic, and many countries still use them frequently today, including the United States, Russia, Poland, Italy, Peru, the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan, among many others.

In Chile, by contrast, commemorative issues have been occasional and relatively widely spaced over time. They have generally been struck in precious metals such as silver and gold, and in limited quantities. For this reason, most of these pieces were not intended for everyday circulation, but rather to mark events of special historical or institutional significance.

Among the first modern issues are the coins minted in 1968, when the Casa de Moneda produced two silver pieces to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Naval Academy. One bears the figure of Captain Arturo Prat, naval hero of the War of the Pacific, while the other depicts the Liberation Fleet of 1820, commanded by Lord Thomas Cochrane. Years later, in 1976, new commemorative coins, also in silver, were issued to mark the third anniversary of 11 September 1973, incorporating the “Angel of Liberty”, one of the characteristic symbols of the Military Government.

During the 1990s, further commemorative silver issues were produced. Among them stands the well-known 10,000-peso coin “Encounter of Two Worlds”, minted to mark the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. This issue formed part of a joint programme involving several Ibero-American countries. Shortly afterwards, in 1993, a 2,000-peso coin, also in silver, was issued to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Casa de Moneda.

More recently, in 2025, Chile minted for the first time a commemorative coin intended for circulation: a 100-peso piece issued to celebrate the centenary of the Central Bank of Chile. In doing so, the country joined a common international practice in which certain commemorative coins form part of both numismatic heritage and everyday currency.