Chile - La Moneda Palace

"Towards 1730, the economy of the Reino de Chile was going through a great depression. For this reason, the Cabildo de Santiago (city council) asked of the King of Spain the setting up of a mint house in the city. The Crown lacked the resources to undertake such enterprise, therefore it was decided to assign it to a private citizen. So, don Francisco Garcia Huidobro, a wealthy Spaniard businessman settled in Santiago, was appointed as Treasurer in Perpetuity, and he bought the house at the southwest comer of Huérfanos and Morandé streets, known as Palacio Viejo (Old Palace). On September 10, 1749, the first coin is minted in gold at that place, bearing the image of King Fernando Vl. After the death of Garcia Huidobro, the Mint House is moved to the old Jesuit schoci located at one side of the church of the Compahia de Jesus. However, the installations did not meet the requirements to perform these operations, so in 1780 the Governor Agustin Jauregui proposed the construction of a buliding for this purpose..."

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