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forest444

(5,902 posts)
Fri Jan 15, 2016, 08:09 PM Jan 2016

Argentina announces new currency design featuring only fauna and flora.

The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) issued a statement today announcing that it will put into circulation banknotes of 200 and 500 pesos in mid-2016, and of 1,000 pesos in 2017.

These new peso notes feature a novel design for Argentine currency: historical and/or political figures will be replaced with images of fauna and flora from the six major geographic regions of Argentina. Each of the bills will feature a species of fauna typical of each region on the obverse side, trimmed with each region's typical flora, with a characteristic landscape scene from each region on the reverse.

The new banknote design will include notes of 20, 50, and 100 pesos, which also start circulating in 2017. The Central Bank also announced that new coin designs will be released for the existing 1 and 2-peso coins, and that the 5 and 10-peso notes currently in circulation will be replaced with coins in 2017.

Argentine currency was last redesigned in 2012 by Swiss graphic artist Roger Pfund. The largest banknote currently in circulation in Argentina, the 100-peso note featuring former First Lady Evita Perón, is worth only US$7.25 following a 30% devaluation a month ago.

"With the election of wildlife and the Argentine regions, the Central Bank also seeks to create a design in which all Argentines can feel represented in the national currency," the statement said.

The motifs adopted for each note are:

* $ 1000: Oven bird (representing the Pampas; the oven bird in the national bird of Argentina).
* $ 500: Jaguar (Northeast).
* $ 200: Southern right whale (South Atlantic and Antarctica).
* $ 100: North Andean deer (Northwest).
* $ 50: Condor (Andes).
* $ 20: Guanaco (Patagonia).

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicargentina.com%2Fnotas%2F201601%2F11087-el-gobierno-anuncio-nuevos-billetes-de-200-y-de-500-con-figuras-de-animales.html
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Macri's devaluation aside, this, besides being a global trend (started, I believe, by South Africa), is a welcome change. Any suggestions for the 10 dollar bill?

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Argentina announces new currency design featuring only fauna and flora. (Original Post) forest444 Jan 2016 OP
Best news I've heard all day! Love it, Argentina! cheapdate Jan 2016 #1
I think so too. forest444 Jan 2016 #2
Beautiful idea. Help people remember what animals and plants used to look like! Judi Lynn Jan 2016 #3
The first money I've ever seen which is actually pretty. Impressive idea. n/t Judi Lynn Jan 2016 #4
That's a very gracious compliment; I hope the designer reads your post somehow. forest444 Jan 2016 #5

forest444

(5,902 posts)
2. I think so too.
Fri Jan 15, 2016, 09:06 PM
Jan 2016

You know, for the last 4 years they've been debating as to who to feature in the 200 and 500-peso notes - which as a result have been delayed despite an exchange rate these days of nearly 14 pesos to the dollar.

The choices of historic figures on Argentine currency have increasingly become the focus of needless bickering. Throughout the 20th century, only José de San Martín and Manuel Belgrano (the George Washington and Nathaniel Greene of Argentina, respectively) made the cut.

Here's a typical peso note from the 1970s, this one featuring Gen. San Martín:



But years of 100%+ inflation forced the Central Bank to replace the peso with the austral in 1985. Besides being the first Argentine currency not named "peso" (meaning "weight" in Spanish, for the fact that during the 19th century currencies in Latin America were backed by silver and gold) several former Presidents' images were added as well.

The most controversial was Julio Roca, who ruled as a fraudulently elected - but competent - kingmaker off and on from 1880 to 1904. He also displaced 15,000 natives from their lands, however, killing around 1,500; and this led to ongoing calls for his removal from the currency. The controversial Roca was, however, kept around when Argentina switched back to the peso in 1992.

So in 2012, former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner obliged. And she certainly ruffled right-wing feathers by featuring the former First Lady Evita Perón in the 2012 series of the 100-peso note (for a few months, many anti-Peronists reportedly refused to accept them).



It goes without saying, then, that dropping any and all politicians from the currency (even the famed Evita) is a welcome change.

Anyone for putting the bald eagle on the 10 dollar bill?

Judi Lynn

(160,218 posts)
3. Beautiful idea. Help people remember what animals and plants used to look like!
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 12:30 AM
Jan 2016

The faces of politicians are just too ugly these days, aren't they?

Thank you for sharing this great choice news.

forest444

(5,902 posts)
5. That's a very gracious compliment; I hope the designer reads your post somehow.
Sat Jan 16, 2016, 02:56 AM
Jan 2016

I looked through several press articles and the Central Bank's website; but have been unable to determine who designed them. I certainly hope they remember to publish that information sometime.

In fairness, the new designs are reminiscent of Swiss currency - which as far as I know was the first to adopt a vertical layout.

The idea for replacing historic figures with fauna was first used by South Africa in 1992.

President F.W. DeKlerk, as you know, was in the middle of transitioning his country away from two generations of Apartheid rule, and the issue of including prominent Black figures in the currency naturally came up. The decision was ultimately made to feature the country's legendary biodiversity instead of people, and to do so in the obverse (front) of the bill - which was, I believe, unprecedented in modern world numismatic history.

It's nice to see that Argentina is resolving its own debates regarding the appropriateness of having this individual or that one on the currency (see above) in a similar way. Whereas people inevitably divide, animals tend to unite.

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