Catalog
1 Real
| Issuer | Banco Hipotecario, Tucumán |
|---|---|
| Year | 1841 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Plain white paper note with a central oval vignette in orange-brown ink at the left, partially illegible due to age and wear. The text is arranged in a letterpress typeset layout across the face, with the issuing institution named at the top, the denomination stated in the centre, and a handwritten date and authorization line below. A manuscript signature appears at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a mirror impression of the obverse printing visible through the thin paper stock, with a corresponding oval stamp or seal in brown ink at the right. The surface is otherwise plain, showing foxing and age toning consistent with a note of this period. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Banco Hipotecario de Tucumán was one of the short-lived provincial banking experiments that emerged in Argentina during the fragmented years before any semblance of national monetary organization. The bank operated under a mortgage-lending mandate — "hipotecario" in name and purpose — which made the issuance of circulating paper notes an unusual extension of its function. Whether this 1 Real actually circulated widely or served a more limited local transactional role is unclear, but the province of Tucumán at this period had virtually no external printing infrastructure, making a local Tucumán imprint genuinely notable.
Provincial Argentine notes from the 1840s are among the most fragile survivors in South American notaphily — thin, locally produced paper, minimal security features, and a public that trusted silver coin over any paper promise.