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20 Centavos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de la República Argentina |
|---|---|
| Year | 1884 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 112 × 68 mm |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in brown. A steer head vignette occupies the center within an engine-turned guilloche surround. The numeral "20" appears in each corner within ornate scroll cartouches, and a continuous geometric meander border frames the entire composition. |
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| Variants | P#3Aa - blue-black on light reddish-brown underprint |
| Comments |
The Banco Nacional de la República Argentina was established in 1872 as a state-backed institution meant to consolidate Argentina's fractured provincial banking system, but it never quite achieved that stability. By the time this note was issued in 1884, the bank was already operating under chronic fiscal strain that would culminate in its liquidation following the Baring Crisis of 1890 — one of the most severe sovereign debt collapses of the nineteenth century.
B. Lange was a Buenos Aires-based printer, which makes this a relatively rare example of a locally produced Argentine banknote from the period; most contemporary issues were contracted to European firms. The small fractional denomination suggests use in everyday retail transactions at a time when coin shortages made low-value paper a practical necessity rather than a policy choice.