50 Centavos

The Compañía Sud-Americana de Billetes de Banco was established in Buenos Aires specifically to reduce Argentina's dependence on foreign security printers — a direct response to the monetary chaos of the 1890 Baring Crisis, which had collapsed the Banco Nacional and forced a complete restructuring of the country's banking system. The Banco de la Nación Argentina itself was created out of that wreckage in 1891, making this note among the earliest issues of an institution still operating today.

Fractional paper currency of this denomination circulated because silver coin had effectively vanished from everyday transactions during the currency crisis years.