Catalog
| Issuer | Provincia de Buenos Aires - Ministerio de Hacienda / Aduana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1820 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | N.° 597 PAPEL FIRRETE O AMORTIZABLE VALE POR DIEZ PESOS. Admisibles en Aduana en introducciones marítimas y terrestres. |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Two wax seal impressions applied alongside handwritten signatures on the obverse as authentication measures. |
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| Comments |
The Provincia de Buenos Aires was barely a functioning administrative unit in 1820 — the year is significant because it coincides with the anarchic collapse of central authority in the former Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a period of near-constant civil conflict between provincial caudillos. That Buenos Aires was issuing customs-backed paper obligations at all reflects the province's attempt to leverage port revenue as a financial foundation when no national government existed to coordinate anything.
Attribution to the Aduana specifically matters: these were not bank notes but quasi-fiscal instruments, with the customs house acting as both guarantor and notional redemption point. The wax seal is the only authentication device — no engraved security printing, no serial numbering visible in most surviving examples.