Catalog
4 Reales Plata Boliviana
| Issuer | Gobierno de la Provincia de San Luís / Tesorería de San Luís |
|---|---|
| Year | 1871 |
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| Value | 4 Reales Plata Boliviana |
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| Obverse description | Rose-red note with a guilloche border framing the entire design. At left, a seated allegorical female figure holds a staff, rendered in intaglio style. The centre carries the large bold legend 'CUATRO REALES' and 'PLATA BOLIVIANA' below the issuer's title in script lettering, with the date 'San Luis, Setiembre 27 de 1871' printed beneath. The numeral '4' appears in each corner, and a circular official stamp is impressed over the lower centre of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA El Gobierno de la Provincia de San Luis Pagará al portador y á la vista CUATRO REALES PLATA BOLIVIANA San Luis, Setiembre 27 de 1871 |
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| Comments |
San Luis was one of several Argentine provinces that briefly experimented with locally issued paper money in the early 1870s, a period when the national banking framework was still too underdeveloped to supply adequate circulating medium to interior provinces. This note draws its denomination from the old colonial silver unit — plata boliviana — which remained the informal reference currency across the Argentine interior long after independence, simply because Bolivian silver coins were still the most trusted metal in circulation there.
Provincial treasury issues from San Luis are among the scarcest of the series. The province had a small population and limited commercial activity, meaning original print runs were modest and redemption was often incomplete.