Catalog
1 Real
| Issuer | Santiago del Estero |
|---|---|
| Year | 1823 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Two crossed arrows dominate the central field, forming a saltire, with the provincial abbreviation 'So' placed in the upper-left angle and 'Eo' in the upper-right angle. The date '823' is inscribed in the lower field beneath the crossed arrows, representing the final three digits of the year 1823. The overall design is primitively engraved in a crudely hammered style characteristic of provincial Argentine emergency coinage of the early republican period. A partial beaded or rope border frames the periphery of the irregular flan. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A bold potent cross with splayed, clubbed terminals occupies the central field, rendered in a simple, robust style typical of early Argentine provincial hammered coinage. The cross is centrally positioned with equal arms and distinctive serif-like terminations on each limb. A prominent beaded inner border runs along the coin's periphery, clearly visible particularly along the left and upper edges of the flan. The field surrounding the cross is plain and unadorned, consistent with the austere utilitarian character of this emergency issue. |
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| Additional information |
Santiago del Estero's 1823 billon coinage belongs to the chaotic monetary patchwork of the early Argentine provincial period, when the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata existed in name but not in monetary practice. With no functioning national mint and Buenos Aires asserting economic dominance it could not yet enforce, interior provinces struck their own fractional silver-copper issues to address acute small-change shortages. Santiago del Estero's output was limited and brief — the province lacked the infrastructure for sustained minting, and these pieces circulated hard in a frontier economy with few alternatives.