Catalog
50 Centavos Fuertes
| Issuer | Banco Argentino, Gualeguay |
|---|---|
| Year | 1866 |
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| Printer | American Bank Note Company |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central oval vignette of a standing rooster on a rocky outcrop, engraved in fine intaglio style. The bank title BANCO ARGENTINO arches across the top in bold letterpress, with the denomination 50 repeated in each corner. Manuscript text and a red overprint stamp appear on the left side, with the date 1° Mayo de 1866 printed to the right below the vignette. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO ARGENTINO CINCUENTA CENTAVOS 50 1° Mayo de 1866 Compañia Americana de Billetes de Banco Nueva York EL GERENTE |
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| Comments |
Banco Argentino de Gualeguay was one of the provincial commercial banks that proliferated in Entre Ríos province during the 1860s, issuing fractional notes to address a chronic shortage of small-denomination coinage. The "Fuertes" designation — distinguishing these from inflated paper pesos — signals the monetary instability already grinding through Argentina's interior at the time of issue.
The American Bank Note Company plate work is characteristic of the firm's mid-1860s Argentine contracts, several of which were produced simultaneously for competing provincial issuers. Whether this note ever circulated in any meaningful volume is doubtful; Gualeguay was a minor river port, and most such provincial fractionals were redeemed, lost, or simply never distributed.