Escudo Público Deposited
Meaning a shield, is the Spanish equivalent for the French Ecu, and the Italian Scudo. The term Escudo de Oro is generally applied to the gold Ducat type issued in the beginning of the sixteenth centry, and the value appears to have ben one eighth of the Doubloon.
In the silver series there is an obsidional Escudo of five Pesetas issued for Tarragona in 1809, and another for Lerida of the same date. The silver Escudo was also extensively struck during the Spanish occupation of the Low Countries. Under a law of 1864 the Escudo was made the Spanish monetary basis with a value of ten Reales.
It has now disappeared as a monetary unit in Europe, an d the only country where it is still in use is Chile, where the Escudo is a gold coin of the value of five Pesos.
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)