5 Pesos

One of the earliest quasi-fiscal instruments issued on the Río de la Plata, this note predates the Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires by nearly a decade. The Ministerio de Hacienda's customs office resorted to paper obligations in 1820 partly because Buenos Aires was in fiscal freefall — that year alone saw three different governors and the near-collapse of the Directorate of the United Provinces. Hard currency had largely fled the port economy.

Manuscript signatures and a hand-applied seal were the only authentication devices, which made forgery a genuine operational concern. The PS# prefix in the Pick classification flags it as a privately or semi-officially issued obligation rather than a central bank note — an important distinction for cataloging purposes.