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4 Reales Plata Boliviana
| Issuer | Otero y Cía., Córdoba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869 |
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| Currency | Real (1813-1881) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black on white paper and carries the issuer name OTERO Y CA in large letters across the upper centre. A central vignette shows an Argentine-style coat of arms with a tower flanked by laurel branches, framed by an oval border. The denomination appears in two large ovals at left and right reading '4', with the text CUATRO REALES in bold letterpress across the lower centre, and a manuscript promise-to-pay inscription reading 'A la presentacion pagaremos de este billete al portador Cuatro Reales plata boliviana o su equivalente en moneda de ley', dated Córdoba, 1 de Enero de 1872, with two portrait vignettes of classical figures at the lower corners. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | OTERO Y CA CUATRO REALES CUATRO REALES A la presentacion pagaremos de este billete al portador plata boliviana o su equivalente en moneda de ley Córdoba, 1 de Enero de 1872 CUATRO ✦ CUATRO ✦ CUATRO |
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| Comments |
Otero y Cía. was a private commercial house in Córdoba, not a bank in any formal sense, and its emission of paper currency in 1869 placed it among dozens of quasi-banking firms across provincial Argentina that filled the credit vacuum left by the absence of a national monetary system. The denomination in Plata Boliviana — Bolivian silver — rather than Argentine pesos reflects how thoroughly Bolivian coinage dominated commercial transactions in the interior provinces at this period, making it the practical reference currency for Córdoba merchants regardless of what circulated in Buenos Aires.
Provincial private issues of this type were rendered worthless within a few years as national banking legislation progressively squeezed out merchant-house paper.