Issued to finance and commemorate Argentina's hosting of the 1978 FIFA World Cup, this coin appeared while the military junta under Jorge Rafael Videla was using the tournament as a calculated propaganda exercise — international goodwill purchased at enormous public cost while political disappearances continued in parallel. The regime spent an estimated $700 million on World Cup infrastructure, a figure that contributed directly to the debt crisis that plagued Argentina through the following decade.
Two die varieties are documented, corresponding to the CJ#317 and CJ#318 distinctions.
Issued to finance and commemorate Argentina's hosting of the 1978 FIFA World Cup, this coin appeared while the military junta under Jorge Rafael Videla was using the tournament as a calculated propaganda exercise — international goodwill purchased at enormous public cost while political disappearances continued in parallel. The regime spent an estimated $700 million on World Cup infrastructure, a figure that contributed directly to the debt crisis that plagued Argentina through the following decade.
Two die varieties are documented, corresponding to the CJ#317 and CJ#318 distinctions.