Catalog
1/2 Real Plata Boliviana
| Issuer | Banco de Mendoza |
|---|---|
| Year | 1871 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The face of this small-format provincial Argentine note is dominated by the issuer's name, BANCO DE MENDOZA, in bold letterpress within an oval cartouche at centre, below which a serial number is hand-stamped. The denomination MEDIO REAL PLATA BOL. appears in large block letters across the middle band, flanked by guilloche ornaments and corner value numerals reading 1/2. A lower vignette presents two allegorical figures in a classical scene, with the text 'Pagara al portador de este billete su equivalente en moneda legal POR EL BANCO' rendered in italic script above. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO DE MENDOZA MEDIO REAL PLATA BOL. Pagara al portador de este billete su equivalente en moneda legal POR EL BANCO MENDOZA MEDIO REAL |
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| Comments |
Banco de Mendoza was one of several provincial Argentine banks that issued its own currency during the brief era of free banking that preceded the creation of a national monetary authority. The ½ Real Plata Boliviana is a fractional denomination — an oddity in itself, since fractional paper was rarely practical and typically signals a severe shortage of small coin in local circulation, which was a persistent problem across the Cuyo region in the early 1870s.
The "Plata Boliviana" designation anchors the note's value to Bolivian silver rather than to any Argentine standard — a telling detail about which metallic currency actually moved through Mendoza's commerce at the time.