20 Centavos

The Banco Hipotecario de la Provincia de Buenos Aires issued fractional notes in 1891 during Argentina's catastrophic Baring Crisis, when the near-collapse of the national financial system left the country desperately short of small-denomination currency for everyday transactions. Provincial mortgage banks, normally occupied with long-term land-backed lending, found themselves filling that gap by necessity.

Printing was done in-house at the Museo de La Plata's workshops — an unusual arrangement that reflects just how improvised the response to the crisis was. The museum's print facilities were not a commercial operation, and the notes show it.