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The peso moneda nacional (symbol: m$n) was the currency of Argentina from 5 November 1881 to 1 January 1970, the date in which the peso ley 18.188 was issued to the Argentine public. It was subdivided into 100 centavos, with the argentino worth 5 pesos. The peso was introduced to replace the Argentine peso moneda corriente at a rate of $+m⁄c 25 = m$n 1.

The peso moneda nacional replaced the Argentine real at a rate of one to eight. It also replaced the peso fuerte at par and the peso moneda corriente at a rate of 25 pesos moneda corriente = 1 peso moneda nacional. The peso moneda nacional was itself replaced by the peso ley at a rate of one hundred to one.

The peso was initially pegged to the French franc at a rate of 1 peso = 5 francs. In 1883, when silver coins ceased production, the paper peso was set at a value of 2.2 francs or 638.7 mg gold. After a suspension in the gold standard from 1914, in 1927, a peg to the U.S. dollar was established of 2.36 pesos = 1 dollar. The rate changed to 1.71 pesos = 1 dollar in 1931, then to 3 pesos = 1 dollar in 1933. Between 1934 and 1939, the peso was pegged to sterling at a rate of 15 pesos = £1 stg (1 peso = 1s. 4d. stg). High inflation in the post-war period lead to the introduction of the peso ley 18.188 in 1970 at the rate of 100 pesos moneda nacional = 1 peso ley.

In 1881, silver 10, 20 and 50 centavos and 1 peso and gold 1 argentino coins were introduced, followed by bronze 1 and 2 centavos the next year. Silver coins ceased production in 1883, with gold coins ending in 1896. Base metal 5, 10 and 20 centavos were introduced in 1896, with base 50 centavos following in 1941. The 1 peso was reintroduced in 1957, with 5, 10 and 25 pesos introduced in 1961, 1962 and 1964.

Value	Obverse	Emission	Withdrawn	Composition	Diam.	Image
1	Liberty	1882–1896	21 April 1959	Bronze	25 mm
1	Coat of arms	1939–1944	21 April 1959	Bronze	16 mm
1	Coat of arms	1945–1948	21 April 1959	Copper	16 mm
2	Liberty	1882–1896	21 April 1959	Bronze	30 mm
2	Coat of arms	1939–1947	21 April 1959	Bronze	20 mm
2	Coat of arms	1947–1950	21 April 1959	Copper	20 mm
5	Liberty	1896–1942	31 January 1965	Copper-Nickel	17 mm
5	Liberty	1942–1950	31 January 1965	Aluminium-Bronze	17 mm
5	José de San Martín	1950–1953	31 January 1965	Copper-Nickel	17 mm
5	José de San Martín	1953–1956	31 January 1965	Copper-Nickel-clad steel	17 mm
5	Liberty	1957–1959	31 January 1965	Copper-Nickel-clad steel	17 mm
10	Liberty	1881–1883		.900 Silver	18 mm
10	Liberty	1896–1942	21 January 1966	Copper-Nickel	19 mm
10	Liberty	1942–1950	21 January 1966	Aluminium-Bronze	19 mm
10	José de San Martín	1950–1952	21 January 1966	Copper-Nickel	19 mm
10	José de San Martín	1952–1956	21 January 1966	Nickel-clad steel	19 mm
10	Liberty	1957–1959	21 January 1966	Nickel-clad steel	19 mm
20	Liberty	1881–1883		.900 Silver	22 mm
20	Liberty	1896–1942	31 January 1967	Copper-Nickel	21 mm
20	Liberty	1942–1950	31 January 1967	Aluminium-Bronze	21 mm
20	José de San Martín	1950–1952	31 January 1967	Copper-Nickel	21 mm
20	José de San Martín	1952–1956	31 January 1967	Nickel-clad steel	21 mm
20	Liberty	1957–1961	31 January 1967	Nickel-clad steel	21 mm
50	Liberty	1881–1883		.900 Silver	29 mm
50	Liberty	1941	31 January 1969	Nickel	24 mm
50	José de San Martín	1952–1956	31 January 1969	Nickel-clad steel	23 mm
50	Liberty	1957–1961	31 January 1969	Nickel-clad steel	23 mm

Value	Obverse	Emission	Withdrawn	Composition	Diam.	Image
1	Liberty	1881–1883		.900 Silver	39 mm
1	Liberty	1957–1962	1 October 1974	Nickel-clad steel	25 mm
1	Buenos Aires Cabildo	1960	1 October 1974	Nickel-clad steel	25 mm
5	Liberty	1881–1896		.900 Gold	23 mm
5	President Sarmiento frigate	1961–1968	12 April 1976	Nickel-clad steel	21 mm
10	Gaucho riding horse	1962–1968	12 July 1976	Nickel-clad steel	21 mm
10	House of Tucumán	1966	12 July 1976	Nickel-clad steel	21 mm
25	First national coin	1964–1968	12 July 1976	Nickel-clad steel	26 mm
25	Domingo Faustino Sarmiento	1968	12 July 1976	Nickel-clad steel	26 mm

There were several banknotes issued by provinces of Argentina, such as Buenos Aires (issued by its respective provincial entity (1883–85), Santa Fe (1882), Entre Ríos (1885), Córdoba (1889), Entre Ríos (1885), Chaco (1884), Salta (1884), and Tucumán (1888) provincial banks.

Banknotes issued by "Banco Provincia de Buenos Aires"
0,10 Pesos Oro	0,16 Pesos Oro	2 Pesos Oro	100 Pesos Oro	500 Pesos Oro

The first nationally issued banknotes were introduced by the "Banco Nacional" in 1883. These were in denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 centavos.

Banknotes issued by "Banco Nacional"
10 cent. (1884)	20 centavos	5 centavos	10 cent. (1895)

In 1891 and 1892, the same denominations were produced by the recently created "Banco de la Nación Argentina". In 1894, the Banco Nación introduced larger denomination notes for 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 pesos.

Paper money production was taken over by the "Caja de Conversión" in 1899. That year, 50 centavos, 1 and 100 pesos were introduced, followed in 1900 by notes for 5, 10, 50, 500 and 1000 pesos. These notes were issued until 1935, when the Banco Central began to produce notes. Law 3505, of 20 September 1897, authorized the Caja de Conversión to renovate all paper money in existence at the time. They decided to make new design called "Progress's Effigy" ("Efigie del Progreso").

These bank notes were created originally in a bigger size and printed by the mint (Casa de Moneda), using French-made paper. Due to their size, and the paper not being of good enough quality, they began to deteriorate. They then decided to suspend the printing and look for another provider. The new notes, of smaller size, started to be issued in 1903, using typography as the printing method.

Value	Issue dates	Image (obverse / reverse)
50 Centavos	1899–1900, 1918–1926
1 Peso	1900–1903, 1906–1935
5 Pesos	1900–1935
10 Pesos	1900–1935
50 Pesos	1900–1935
100 Pesos	1899–1932
500 Pesos	1900–1901, 1905, 1909–1930, 1935
1000 Pesos	1901, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1910–1934

When the Central Bank of Argentina was established it took over the banknotes, which began to be printed by the Casa de Moneda. The banknotes designs were not modified until 1942, when the bank decided to introduce new designs, leaving the allegory of Liberty figure behind. Some series were printed in Great Britain.^[1]

The Banco Central issued the following banknotes:

Value	Obverse	Reverse	Emission start date	Withdrawn	Image (obverse / reverse)
0.50 [n 1]	Allegory of Liberty	National Constitution	1942	31 December 1960
1	Justice	Casa de Tucumán	1935	31 December 1960
5	José de San Martín	May Revolution	1935	31 January 1965
10	José de San Martín	Oath of Independence	17 March 1936	31 January 1965
50	José de San Martín	Crossing of the Andes (painting by Augusto Ballerini)	10 September 1936	30 March 1968
50	José de San Martín	Crossing of the Andes	2 January 1943	30 September 1968
100	José de San Martín	Founding of Buenos Aires (painting by José Moreno Carbonero)	14 August 1936	30 March 1968
100	José de San Martín	Founding of Buenos Aires	23 December 1943	30 September 1968
500	José de San Martín	Central Bank of Argentina	21 December 1944	30 March 1968
500	José de San Martín	San Martín's house at Grand Bourg	25 November 1964	30 September 1968
1,000	José de San Martín	Frigate Presidente Sarmiento	21 December 1944	1 July 1975
5,000	José de San Martín	National Congress	4 October 1962	1 July 1975
10,000	José de San Martín	San Martín and O'Higgins meeting	18 December 1961	1 July 1975

Notes

• 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.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Argentine peso moneda nacional.

• Pesos moneda nacional coin photos