Catalog
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| Issuer | Banco J. Benites é Hijo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1867 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse carries a central vignette of a horse-drawn chariot scene at upper centre, flanked by the denomination numeral '10' on both sides. A portrait vignette of a bearded gentleman in formal attire occupies the lower left, with a standing female allegorical figure to the lower right. The issuer's title 'EL BANCO J. BENITES É HIJO' runs across the top in bold letterpress, with the place of issue 'GUALEGUAYCHÚ' and date 'ENERO 1º DE 1867' inscribed in the upper field. The note's border is composed of repeated guilloche ornamental bands carrying the denomination text. |
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| Obverse lettering | EL BANCO J. BENITES É HIJO GUALEGUAYCHÚ ENERO 1º DE 1867 DIEZ PESOS FUERTES Pagará al portador y á la vista DIEZ PESOS FUERTES EN ORO SELLADO pp. J. Benites é hijo BANCO J. BENITES É HIJO Diez pesos fuertes |
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| Comments |
Banco J. Benites é Hijo was a private commercial bank operating in Argentina during the brief and chaotic period of provincial free banking that preceded the consolidation of the Argentine financial system in the 1880s. These private bank notes circulated alongside dozens of competing issues, with public confidence varying sharply depending on the issuing house's known reserves and reputation at any given moment.
The "Fuertes" denomination is significant — it denotes hard-currency pesos, nominally backed by metal, as distinct from the inflated paper moneda corriente that plagued Argentine commerce throughout this period. Whether that backing was genuinely maintained is another matter.