1 Austral

The austral was introduced in June 1985 as part of the Austral Plan, an emergency stabilization program under President Alfonsín designed to arrest inflation that had already exceeded 1,000% annually. By 1989, the year this coin was struck, the plan had collapsed entirely — inflation hit roughly 3,000% and the country descended into hyperinflationary crisis so acute that Alfonsín resigned five months early, handing power to Menem ahead of schedule. A 1-austral coin in aluminium was, by any practical measure, functionally worthless the moment it left the mint.