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50 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Hipotecario de la Provincia de Buenos Aires |
|---|---|
| Year | 1891 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#S620 |
| Obverse description | The obverse is laid out in a letterpress and intaglio style with an ornate guilloche border running the full perimeter. The central text panel carries the bank name BANCO HIPOTECARIO DE LA PROVINCIA DE BUENOS AIRES, the date LA PLATA, JULIO DE 1891, and the legal text Este bono al portador emitido con arreglo a la Ley de 14 de Julio de 1891 representa CINCUENTA PESOS MONEDA NACIONAL DE CURSO LEGAL. At upper left and lower right, large numeral 50 denominators appear within rosette vignettes, while the Argentine coat of arms occupies an oval vignette at upper right; the note is further marked 1a EMISION at left center. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in green and displays a large central text block set within an elaborate guilloche framework of interlocking rosettes and lathe-work borders. The heading Ley de 14 de Julio de 1891 appears at the top, followed by multiple numbered articles of the law in fine letterpress. Numeral 50 vignettes in guilloche rosettes occupy the left and right margins, and the imprint TALLERES DEL MUSEO DE LA PLATA appears at the foot of the note. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Hipotecario de la Provincia de Buenos Aires was a mortgage bank, not a commercial one — its notes were backed by land and property assets rather than specie or government guarantees. This distinction mattered enormously in 1891, the year Argentina's financial system effectively collapsed following the Baring Crisis and the near-default on sovereign debt. Issuing paper in that environment required some audacity.
What makes this note genuinely unusual is the printer. The Talleres del Museo de La Plata — the workshops of the La Plata Museum — were established for scientific and natural history publishing, not currency production. Printing fiduciary instruments there was an improvisation born of circumstance, and it shows in how rare surviving examples of this series are.