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5 Gramos
| Issuer | Tierra del Fuego |
|---|---|
| Year | 1889 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | 17 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central oval cartouche bearing the word GRAMOS in raised lettering, flanked above and below by crossed lines over a granulated field, representing the numeral 5 and the denomination unit. A circular legend surrounds the cartouche, reading LAVADEROS DE ORO . DEL SUR, referencing the gold-washing sites of the south for which this token was struck. The overall design mirrors the obverse in its primitive, hand-engraved aesthetic, consistent with the frontier conditions under which these pieces were produced. |
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| Additional information |
Tierra del Fuego's privately issued gold tokens of 1889 were struck for the estancia operations of José Menéndez and Mauricio Braun, the merchant dynasties that effectively controlled the Patagonian sheep economy at the southern tip of the continent. With the Argentine state exercising almost no monetary presence in the region, these pieces circulated as functional currency among workers who rarely left the estancias — a captive economy with its own medium of exchange.
The alloy, notably below standard gold fineness, reflects practical realities of private minting rather than any sovereign monetary policy.