2 Escudos

La Rioja's gold coinage of the early 1840s belongs to the chaotic monetary period following Argentine independence, when provincial authorities — lacking any coordinated federal monetary policy — struck their own gold and silver on irregular schedules determined largely by local treasury needs. This 2 Escudos was issued under provincial authority at a moment when Buenos Aires and the interior were locked in ongoing political conflict over centralism versus federalism, and interprovincial trade made a functioning local gold coinage genuinely necessary rather than ceremonial.

Provincial Argentine gold of this type survives in small numbers; most examples that do appear show significant circulation wear, suggesting these pieces actually moved through commerce rather than sitting in reserve.