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20 Pesos
| Issuer | Tesorería General de la República Argentina |
|---|---|
| Year | 1860 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Pesos |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Yellow-green tinted note with letterpress text throughout. The Argentine national arms vignette is centered at the top, flanked by the bold inscription REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA and the legislative authority LEY DE 1° DE OCTUBRE DE 1860. The body of the note carries a handwritten promise-to-pay text issued from Paraná, with the large numeral 20 printed at the lower right as a denomination indicator. Border rules frame the note on all sides, with the repeated legend POR VEINTE PESOS appearing at top and bottom. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain yellow-green paper reverse bearing manuscript endorsements in ink, consistent with circulation handling and transfer notations. Two small red wax or paper seals are affixed at the left edge. The text from the obverse shows through faintly as a ghost impression due to the thinness of the paper stock. |
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| Comments |
The Tesorería General de la República Argentina was a treasury-based issuing authority, not a central bank — Argentina had none until 1872, with the Banco Nacional. These treasury notes from the early 1860s circulated during a period when Buenos Aires province and the Argentine Confederation had only recently resolved their decade-long political rupture, reunifying in 1861 after the Battle of Pavón. Federal fiscal infrastructure was still being assembled from scratch.
Printed domestically at a time when most South American governments contracted European firms, the local production reflects both the logistical difficulty of overseas contracting and the new national government's push for administrative self-sufficiency. Quality control on domestic presswork of this period was inconsistent.