1 Peso 70th Anniversary of B.C.R.A.

The Banco Central de la República Argentina was founded in 1935 under President Agustín Justo, replacing the earlier Caja de Conversión as the nation's primary monetary authority. Its 70th anniversary in 2005 fell during the fragile recovery following the catastrophic 2001–2002 financial crisis, when Argentina had defaulted on roughly $100 billion in sovereign debt — at the time the largest sovereign default in history. Commemorating an institution that had survived that collapse carried an unmistakable irony.