Description
Includes box and certificate. The obverse shows a woman with a star in her hair and the slogan “Let’s rebuild in peace” (“Reconstruyamos en paz”). The reverse shows the arms of Chile (“Por la razón o la fuerza”, “By reason or force”) and “11 de Septiembre / 1973-1974 / Chile”.
The sculptor Matías Vial Vial was then Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Chile, and the medal is said to have been partially intended to symbolize approval by the cultural elite of the coup by Pinochet – for some, a anti-communist reformer, for others, a brutal dictator. Vial’s personal opinions are unknown to me.
From the certificate:
In designing this valuable numismatic medal, the National Mining Company aimed to:
a) Commemorate the first anniversary of the heroic deed [gesta] of 11 September 1973,
b) Pay tribute to Chilean women for their outstanding role in the events commemorated, and
c) Promote the National Reconstruction campaign undertaken by the Honorable Military Government Junta.
The previous owner – a foreign diplomat – allegedly saved some potential victims by arranging for them to be concealed in the mines following the coup.
Partial transcription of certificate:
Medalla conmemorativa del 11 de Septiembre de 1973
[…]
Nota
La Empresa Nacional de Minería, al concebir esta medalla de valor numismático, tuvo en vista:
a) Conmemorar el primer aniversario de la gesta del 11 de Septiembre de 1973,
b) Rendir un homenaje a la mujer chilena por su destacada actuación en los hechos que se conmemoran, y
c) Estimular la campaña de Reconstrucción Nacional emprendida por la Honorable Junta Militar de Gobierno.
