Catalog
50 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco de Buenos Ayres |
|---|---|
| Year | 1827-1828 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse bears the engraved header EL BANCO DE BUENOS AYRES across the top, flanked by two oval guilloche medallions each inscribed with the numeral 50. An upper-left portrait vignette shows a classical male bust, while a lower-left portrait vignette depicts another figure, likely George Washington; a central allegorical vignette illustrates a pastoral or commercial scene with figures. The promise-to-pay text in Spanish appears in letterpress across the lower centre, with the large numeral 50 to the left and a vertical side panel lettered CINCUENTA PESOS at right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | EL BANCO DE BUENOS AYRES 50 Promete pagar al portador y a la Vista la cantidad de CINCUENTA PESOS en Moneda Metalica Buenos Ayres POR LOS DIRECTORES Y ACCIONISTAS Contador Presidente CINCUENTA PESOS |
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| Comments |
The Banco de Buenos Ayres was founded in 1822 as Argentina's first bank of issue, backed initially by British merchant capital and operating under the government of Buenos Aires province. By 1826, the institution had been absorbed into the newly created Banco Nacional, making notes dated 1827–1828 a transitional curiosity — issued under the old name while the institutional structure beneath it was already being dismantled.
The bank's paper circulation collapsed badly during the Cisplatine War financial strain, and convertibility was suspended in 1826, never fully restored. These late emissions circulated as inconvertible currency in a market that had largely stopped trusting them.