Argentine austral

Argentine austral
austral argentino (Spanish)
ISO 4217
Code	ARA
Unit
Unit	austral
Plural	australes
Symbol	₳‎
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄100	centavo
Symbol
centavo	¢
Banknotes	₳1, ₳5, ₳10, ₳50, ₳100, ₳500, ₳1,000, ₳5,000, ₳10,000, ₳50,000, ₳100,000, ₳500,000
Coins	1⁄2¢, 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 50¢, ₳1, ₳5, ₳10, ₳100, ₳500, ₳1,000
Demographics
Replaced	Peso argentino
Date of withdrawal	31 December 1991
Replaced by	Argentine peso
User(s)	Argentina
Issuance
Central bank	Banco Central de la República Argentina
Website	www.bcra.gov.ar
	This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The austral was the currency of Argentina between June 15, 1985, and December 31, 1991. It was divided into 100 centavos. The symbol was an uppercase A with an extra horizontal line, (₳). This symbol appeared on all coins issued in this currency (including centavos), to distinguish them from earlier currencies.

History

Finance Minister Juan Vital Sourrouille devised the Austral plan.^[1] The austral replaced the peso argentino at a rate of ₳1 = $a1,000, making the austral worth US$1.25, or 80 centavos de austral per U.S. dollar.

In 1992, the austral was itself replaced by the convertible peso at a rate of $1 = ₳10,000.

Coins

In 1985, coins were introduced for 1⁄2, 1, 5, 10 and 50 centavos. The 1⁄2¢ was only issued in 1985, whilst production of the 1¢ ceased in 1987, 5¢ ceased in 1988, and that of the other centavo coins ended in 1989. In 1989, ₳1, ₳5 and ₳10 coins were issued, followed in 1990 and 1991 by ₳100, ₳500 and ₳1,000 denominations.

Centavo

Value	Obverse	Entered circulation	Withdrawn	Composition	Diameter
1⁄2¢	Hornero	23 Sep 1985	31 Dec 1991	Copper-Aluminium (92/8)	19 mm
1¢	Rhea	23 Sep 1985	31 Dec 1991	Copper-Aluminium (92/8)	20 mm
5¢	Puma	23 Sep 1985	31 Dec 1991	Copper-Aluminium (92/8)	23 mm
10¢	Coat of arms	14 Oct 1985	31 Dec 1991	Copper-Aluminium (92/8)	21 mm
50¢	Liberty	14 Oct 1985	31 Dec 1991	Copper-Aluminium (92/8)	23 mm

Austral

Value	Obverse	Entered circulation	Withdrawn	Composition	Diameter
₳1	Buenos Aires Cabildo	27 Mar 1989	31 Dec 1991	Aluminium	20 mm
₳5	House of Tucumán	22 May 1989	31 Dec 1991	Aluminium	22 mm
₳10	Casa del Acuerdo	26 Jun 1989	31 Dec 1991	Aluminium	22 mm
₳100	Coat of arms	28 Nov 1990	31 Oct 1993	Aluminium	21 mm
₳500	Coat of arms	1 Nov 1990	31 Oct 1993	Aluminium	23 mm
₳1,000	Coat of arms	28 Nov 1990	31 Oct 1993	Aluminium	24 mm

Banknotes

In 1985, provisional issues were made consisting of $a1000, $a5000 and $a10,000 notes overstamped with the values ₳1, ₳5 and ₳10.

Value	Comments	Portrait	Entered circulation	Withdrawn
₳1	Provisional	José de San Martín	31 Oct 1985	30 Nov 1987
₳5	Provisional	Juan Bautista Alberdi	31 Oct 1985	30 Nov 1987
₳10	Provisional	Manuel Belgrano	31 Oct 1985	30 Nov 1987

Between 1985 and 1991, the following notes were issued by the Banco Central:

Value	Comments	Portrait	Entered circulation	Withdrawn	value in 1992 convertible peso
₳1	Definitive	Bernardino Rivadavia	31 Oct 1985	31 Oct 1991
₳5	Definitive	Justo José de Urquiza	28 Feb 1986	31 Oct 1991
₳10	Definitive	Santiago Derqui	30 Dec 1985	31 Oct 1991
₳50	Definitive	Bartolomé Mitre	23 Jun 1986	31 Dec 1991
₳100	Definitive	Domingo F. Sarmiento	25 Nov 1985	1 Jun 1992	Arg$0.01
₳500	Definitive	Nicolás Avellaneda	2 May 1988	1 Jun 1992	Arg$0.05
₳1,000	Definitive	Julio A. Roca	30 Sep 1988	1 Jun 1992	Arg$0.10
₳5,000	Definitive	Juárez Celman	26 May 1989	1 Oct 1992	Arg$0.50
₳10,000	Provisional	José de San Martín	31 Jul 1989	31 Aug 1991	Arg$1
₳10,000	Definitive	Carlos Pellegrini	25 Aug 1989	1 Oct 1992	Arg$1
₳50,000	Provisional	José de San Martín	2 Jun 1989	31 Aug 1991	Arg$5
₳50,000	Definitive	Luis Sáenz Peña	8 Nov 1989	2 Jan 1993	Arg$5
₳100,000	Definitive	José E. Uriburu	21 May 1990	2 Jan 1993	Arg$10
₳500,000	Provisional	José de San Martín	2 Jul 1990	31 Oct 1991	Arg$50
₳500,000	Definitive	Manuel Quintana	1 Nov 1990	2 Jan 1993	Arg$50

All banknotes except the provisional types show on the back an image of Liberty with a torch and shield. The provisional banknotes were produced from modified peso ley plates. On the obverses, the word PESOS were erased, whilst the reverse designs substituted the picture with the denomination written in words without spaces in several rows. The denomination was shown on both faces in the form ₳10 MIL (₳10,000), ₳50 MIL (₳50,000) and ₳500 MIL (₳500,000).

References

Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.
Silveyra, Jorge; Lozano, Sergio; Díaz, Oscar (2001). Falsificación de moneda. Editorial Policial. ISBN 950-9071-66-8.

^ La era Sourrouille, corazón del Plan Austral (in Spanish)

External links

Official website of the Banco Central de la República Argentina (Argentine Central Bank)
Argentine Notes

[1] La era Sourrouille, corazón del Plan Austral (in Spanish)

[1]