Catalog
1/2 Real Boliviano
| Issuer | Banco de San Juan - Sucursal (Branch) Catamarca |
|---|---|
| Year | 1875 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The upper portion bears the heading 'SUCURSAL DEL BANCO DE SAN JUAN', framing a central vignette of three swans on water, flanked by two oval medallions each carrying the fraction '1/2' within a decorative border. The denomination legend 'VALE POR MEDIO REAL' is printed in bold letterpress across the centre, with the lower section recording a manuscript date 'Catamarca, 1ro Enero de 1875' and two handwritten signatures, accompanied by text specifying payment of one boliviano peso at sight to the bearer. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | SUCURSAL DEL BANCO DE SAN JUAN VALE POR MEDIO REAL CATAMARCA 1ro Enero de 1875 pagara a la vista UN PESO boliviano moneda corriente al portador de dos y seis de estos billetes |
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| Comments |
The Banco de San Juan operated from the Argentine province of San Juan under the banking legislation of the early 1870s, a period when provincial free banking produced a chaotic proliferation of note-issuing institutions across Argentina — many of which failed within a decade. This branch issue for Catamarca is among the more obscure emissions from that era, and the PS# prefix in the Pick Specialized catalog confirms its provisional or speculative attribution, meaning full documentation of issuance and redemption history has never been firmly established.
The fractional real boliviano denomination itself signals just how early and transitional this note is — Argentina's peso system had not yet fully displaced the old colonial real-based reckoning in provincial commerce.