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2000 Pesos 2009, Chile

in Krause book Number: 162
Years of issue: 17.11.2010
Edition: --
Signatures: Presidente: Jose Fernando de Gregorio Rebeco, Gerente General: Alejandro Zurbuchen Silva (2008 - 2011)
Serie: Serie Bicentenario
Specimen of: 2009
Material: Polymer
Size (mm): 127 x 70
Printer: Note Printing Australia, Craigieburn, Melbourne

* All pictures marked magnify are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.

** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.

2000 Pesos 2009

Description

Watermark:

watermark

The portrait of Manuel Rodríguez.

Avers:

2000 Pesos 2009

Manuel Javier Rodriguez ErdoizaThe engraving on banknote is made after this portrait of Chilean hero.

Manuel Xavier Rodríguez Erdoíza (February 27, 1785 - May 26, 1818) was a Chilean lawyer and guerrilla leader, considered one of the founders of independent Chile. An associate of Bernardo O'Higgins.

On 18 September 1810, in the absence of the Spanish monarch, a national government (Primera Junta Nacional de Gobierno) was formed from which sprung the struggle for Chilean Independence.

In May 1811, he was named attorney for Santiago de Chile. His attitude towards the independence cause was moderate up until the arrival from Spain of his old friend José Miguel Carrera, a passionate revolutionary.

In the latter part of 1811, Rodríguez was subsequently elected as parliamentary representative for Talca on 4 September, named Secretary of War on 15 November and on 2 December was conscripted into the army with the rank of Captain.

In 1813, the friendship between Rodríguez and Carrera (who by this time had seized control of the Chilean government) had begun to cool. Rodríguez and his brothers were detained and charged for conspiracy against Carrera. They were condemned to one year's exile on Juan Fernández island; however, Rodríguez was able to procure a document that impeded the completion of this sentence.

Carrera and Rodríguez renewed their friendship in 1814. The government junta presided by Carrera was replaced by a new one led by Colonel Francisco de la Lastra, which Rodríguez criticized profusely in the newspaper Monitor Araucano. When the Carrera brothers were removed from command, José Miguel was concealed by Rodríguez. After recovering control of the government, Carrera formed a new junta in which Rodríguez was made Secretary. However, Spanish forces led by General Mariano Osorio advanced from the south towards Santiago. After the Disaster of Rancagua, the Spanish took back control of Chile and Rodríguez, along with many other patriots, fled to Mendoza, Argentina.

José de San Martín, Governor of Cuyo, welcomed the Chilean exiles with open arms and organized a "Liberation Army" with Chileans and Argentinians included.

San Martín saw in Rodríguez the ideal spy since he was very shrewd and skilled for this position, and furthermore, his humble origins allowed him to easily pass for a commoner. He began creating disguises and communications systems-often carrying out his duties disguised as a monk, farmer, street merchant, domestic servant or even as a woman.

He was the most-wanted man during the rule of the Spanish Governor of Chile, Casimiro Marcó del Pont. His assaults on Melipilla and San Fernando were an important part of San Martín's strategy to divert attention away from the "Liberating Army" that entered Chile and triumphed at the Battle of Chacabuco.

After the victory at Chacabuco, the Chilean commander Bernardo O'Higgins ordered the arrest of Rodríguez who managed to escape capture and was hidden until San Martín was able to intervene on his behalf and conferred on him the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After the surprise attack by the Spanish forces at the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada, Rodríguez was instrumental in maintaining calm in Santiago amid false rumors of the death of O'Higgins. It was during this event that he uttered his most famous quote Aún tenemos patria, ciudadanos (We still have a fatherland, citizens).

After the events at Cancha Rayada, Rodríguez and other Carrera supporters organised a regiment called the Hussars of Death (Húsares de la Muerte). The characteristic symbol of this organisation was a white skull over a black background, symbolising their will to die in battle rather than allowing the enemy to win. However, this regiment was not considered for the battle of Maipú and was latter dissolved by Bernardo O'Higgins (he and San Martín both opposed the Carrera brothers).

Rodríguez was killed on 26 May 1818 in Til-Til by soldiers the "Cazadores de los Andes" battalion commanded by Antonio Navarro, after being imprisoned by order of O'Higgins. His execution was extrajudicial, and it is widely attributed to the head of the government.

Rodriguez's body was mutilated and abandoned in a trench, but a group of local peasants found it and recognized Rodríguez, burying him secretly under the La Merced's Chapel's altar in Til-Til with the help of the local priest. This was a sample of the affection the people had for Manuel Rodríguez, as well as the fear and contempt for the government of O'Higgins.

By the end of the XX century, Rodríguez's body was moved to the General Cemetery of Santiago. It is believed today, however (after some research not yet finished), that the moved remains were not really Rodríguez's, but those of an older unknown soldier wearing the Husares de la Muerte uniform (although at the time of his assassination, Rodríguez was not wearing his legendary uniform), and that Rodríguez's body might still be buried in Til-Til's La Merced's Chapel.

Lapageria roseaCentered is stylized Lapageria. Lapageria rosea is the national flower of Chile.

It is genus of flowering plants with only one species, Lapageria rosea, commonly known as Chilean bellflower or copihue. It grows in forests in the southern part of Chile, being part of the Valdivian temperate rain forests flora. The name of the fruit in Mapudungun is actually kopiw (derived from kopün, "being upside down"), which is the etymon of Spanish copihue; the Mapuche call the plant kolkopiw (colcopihue in Spanish, which may also refer to the whole plant). The flower is called kodkülla in the indigenous language.

In center of Lapageria is the sun.

In lower left corner is Antú - the most powerful of the Pillan spirits in the Mapuche mythology. Antú represents the sun and fertility.

Two security threads: Horizontally, along whole field of the banknote, micro printing repeated "Dos Mil Pesos" over the entire length of the strips.

Bottom left are two horizontal bars for the visually impaired.

Denominations in numerals are in top left and lower right corners, in words in top right corner.

Revers:

2000 Pesos 2009

Reserva Nacional NalcasThe Nalcal National Reserve, in the Andes.

The Nalcas National Reserve is a protected wild area in Chile, located in the Araucania region, within the Comune Lonquimay, 180 km from the city of Temuco. This reserve is adjacent to the Malalcahuello National Reserve and they are managed as a unit. The major geographical features of the reserve are Lonquimay and Tolhuaca volcanoes, both on the boundaries of the reservation.

LonquimayLonguimay volcano, which dominates the landscape of the area, in the background.

It is a stratovolcano of late-Pleistocene to dominantly Holocene age, with the shape of a truncated cone. The cone is largely andesitic, though basaltic and dacitic rocks are present. It is located in the La Araucanía Region of Chile, immediately South-East of Tolhuaca volcano. Sierra Nevada and Llaima are their neighbors to the south. The snow-capped volcano lies within the protected area Malalcahuello-Nalcas.

Enicognathus leptorhynchusAt lower center, the Choroy parrot sitting on Araucaria branch.

The Slender-billed Parakeet (Enicognathus leptorhynchus) is a bird species in the parrot family. It belongs to the smaller long-tailed Arinae (macaws and conures), and is consequently also known as Slender-billed Conure. It is known by the common name Choroy. It is endemic to southern Chile and Argentina; Its natural habitat is temperate forests, and its range stretches from Central Chile at the level of Mt Aconcagua down to the island of Chiloe and the continental section of the country.

Araucaria araucanaAraucaria araucana (commonly called the monkey puzzle tree, monkey tail tree, Chilean pine, or pehuén) is an evergreen tree growing to 40 m. (130 ft.) tall with a 2-m. (7-ft.) trunk diameter. The tree is native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. Araucaria araucana is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria. Because of the great age of this species, it is sometimes described as a living fossil.

It is the national tree of Chile.

A security thread: Vertically, along whole field of the banknote, micro printing repeated "Dos Mil Pesos" over the entire length of the strips.

Denominations in numerals are in top left and lower right corners.

Comments:

Security thread is on the left side.

When the note is held up to the light a denomination "2000", which has been partially printed on both sides of the banknote, is revealed.

The obverse of banknotes, in the center left of the portraits, has a stylized image of a national symbol of Chile - corazón del copihue or Chilean bellflower. The local name is Copihue, and the image on the note usually referred to as the "Heart of Copihue".