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1/2 Real
| Issuer | La Rioja |
|---|---|
| Year | 1844 |
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| Engraver(s) | José Barros (B) |
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| Obverse description | At center, the Argentine national coat of arms is depicted within an oval cartouche: two clasped hands hold a pike surmounted by a Phrygian cap, beneath a radiant rising sun, the entire device enclosed by a wreath of laurel branches tied at the base. The mintmark 'R' (La Rioja) and engraver's initial 'B' flank the date 1844 in the lower exergue. The circumferential legend reads 'REPUB. ARGENT. CONFEDER.' in Latin script. The design is executed in the provincial milled style characteristic of Argentine Confederation-era coinage. |
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| Reverse description | The central field is dominated by the Sol de Mayo, a radiant sun with a stylized human face rendered in relief, surrounded by alternating straight and wavy rays extending to the inner border. The denomination '1/2 R' appears in the lower field beneath the sun. The circumferential legend '* ETERNO LOOR AL RESTAURAD . ROSAS' encircles the design, constituting a political tribute to Juan Manuel de Rosas as Restorer of the Laws, a formula characteristic of Rosas-era Argentine provincial issues. The execution is consistent with the relatively crude but expressive engraving tradition of the La Rioja provincial mint. |
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| Additional information |
La Rioja's provincial coinage of the 1840s belongs to the chaotic monetary period following Argentine independence, when Buenos Aires had not yet succeeded in imposing a unified national currency. Individual provinces struck their own silver and copper on wildly inconsistent standards, and La Rioja — a small, landlocked province with significant silver-mining activity in the Famatina range — was among the more prolific provincial issuers. This piece predates the national currency unification that would eventually come under Urquiza's confederation government in the 1850s.