Argentina P326 50 Australes 1986-1989 XF—Series A—Mitre—R0202

The 50 Australes captures Argentina's brief, turbulent experiment with a currency born of hyperinflationary desperation — featuring the nation's most consequential 19th-century statesman on a note that itself became worthless within a decade of issue.

Front

• Colors: pale lavender-purple background; violet-purple dominant engraving; dark green and brown-purple security guilloche elements at right; pink-red accents in denomination numeral
• Portrait of Bartolomé Mitre — Argentine statesman, soldier, and author; President of Argentina 1862–1868
• Large stylized "A" (Austral symbol) and "50" guilloche watermark panel at left
• Geometric security elements: interlocking diamond and leaf-form guilloche patterns in dark green and purple at right
• Serial number: prefix letter + 8 digits + suffix letter (e.g., 64.559.951 A)
• Inscription: BANCO CENTRAL DE LA REPUBLICA ARGENTINA / Cincuenta Australes / Bartolomé Mitre
• Signatures (by variety):
  • a (ND 1986): German R. Pampillo (Deputy General Manager) & Juan J. A. Concepción (President)
  • b.1 (ND 1986–1987): Julío Alberto Piekarz (General Manager) & Juan J. A. Concepción (President)
  • b.2 (ND 1988–1989): Elias Salama (General Manager) & José Luis Machinea (President)
  • b.3 (ND 1989): Rene E. De Paul (General Manager) & Javier González Fraga (President)

Back

• Colors: pale blue-green teal background with fine-line guilloche; dark grey-black dominant engraving of Liberty figure; multicolor teal, pink, and orange rosette emblem at lower right; dark teal "50" numeral
• Allegorical figure of Liberty (Progreso) with torch raised in right hand and shield at left, seated on a plinth
• Elaborate fan-shaped guilloche radiating behind the figure
• Multicolor lotus/rosette emblem (national cockade motif) at lower right
• Inscription: REPUBLICA ARGENTINA / Cincuenta Australes

Other Characteristics

• Varieties:
  • a — ND (1986), sig. GRP/JJAC, Serie A
  • a-r — ND (1986), Replacement, Prefix R suffix A
  • b.1 — ND (1986–1987), sig. JAP/JJAC, Serie A
  • b.2 — ND (1988–1989), sig. ES/JLM, Serie A — this note
  • b.2r — ND (1988–1989), Replacement, Prefix R suffix A
  • b.3 — ND (1989), sig. REDP/JGF, Serie A
• Catalog numbers: P-326b.2; Numista N#203808
• Watermark: Multiple sunbursts
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 155 × 65 mm
• Issuing entity: Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (Banco Central de la República Argentina)
• Printer: Casa de Moneda, Argentina
• Demonetized: 1 March 1992
• Currency: Argentine Austral (1985–1991)

The Man on the Note: Bartolomé Mitre

Bartolomé Mitre is arguably the most consequential figure in Argentine nation-building. As president from 1862 to 1868, he unified the fractured Argentine Confederation under Buenos Aires, established the Supreme Court, and created the national army. He was also a prolific historian and journalist — founding the newspaper La Nación in 1870, which still publishes today. His face on the 50 Australes is a reminder that Argentina's intellectual and political foundations were laid by men of genuine stature — even as the currency bearing his image collapsed into hyperinflationary oblivion.

The Austral: A Currency Born Desperate

The Argentine Austral was introduced in June 1985 under President Raúl Alfonsín as part of the "Austral Plan" — a shock therapy attempt to halt inflation that had reached 688% annually. It worked briefly. Then it didn't. By 1989, inflation hit 3,079%. The Austral was quietly retired in 1992, replaced by the Convertibility Peso at a rate of 10,000 Australes to 1 Peso. This 50 Australes note — worth fractions of a US cent by the end — is a paper artifact of one of the most dramatic monetary collapses in modern history.

Liberty with a Torch

The reverse figure — Liberty (Progreso), seated with torch and shield — is a classical allegory that appears across Argentine currency going back to the 19th century. The torch represents enlightenment and progress; the shield, national sovereignty. The irony of a "progress" allegory on a note destroyed by hyperinflation is not lost on collectors.

About Argentina

• Origin of name: From Latin argentum (silver) — a reference to the silver-rich Río de la Plata basin that drew Spanish colonizers
• Capital: Buenos Aires (city pop. ~3.1 million; metro pop. ~15.5 million)
  • Origin of name: Spanish for "fair winds" (buenos aires) — named by 16th-century Spanish sailors
• Population: ~46 million (UN 2024) — roughly Texas and California combined
• Area: 2,780,400 km² (1,073,500 mi²) — comparable to India, or roughly the size of the contiguous US minus the eastern seaboard
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$26,000 (IMF 2024)
• Main exports: Soybeans and soy products, corn, wheat, beef, lithium, petroleum
• Borders: Chile (west), Bolivia and Paraguay (north), Brazil and Uruguay (northeast); Atlantic Ocean (east)
• Official/spoken language: Spanish (~100%)
• Ethnicities: European Argentines (~97%, predominantly Italian and Spanish descent); Indigenous peoples (~3%)
• Memberships: UN (founding member, 1945); OAS (founding member, 1948); Mercosur (founding member, 1991); G20 (member); WTO (1995)
• Sovereignty:
  • Pre-colonial: Diverse indigenous peoples including the Mapuche, Guaraní, and Quechua
  • Spanish colonization (1516–1816) — Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata established 1776
  • Independence declared 9 July 1816
  • Federal Republic established 1861 — this note issued during this period

Argentina Unfiltered

• Argentina has experienced eight sovereign debt defaults — more than any other country in history — including defaults in 2001, 2014, and 2020.
• The Austral currency on this note was introduced in 1985 to replace the Peso Argentino at 1,000:1 — and was itself replaced by the Peso in 1992 at 10,000:1. In other words, one 1992 Peso = 10,000,000 pre-1985 Pesos.
• Argentina has the highest number of psychologists per capita in the world — roughly 220 per 100,000 people, more than double the US rate.
• The country has won the FIFA World Cup three times (1978, 1986, 2022) and produced Lionel Messi, widely considered the greatest footballer of all time.
• Argentina's Patagonia region contains some of the world's largest untapped lithium reserves, making it a critical player in the global EV battery supply chain.
• The Iguazú Falls on the Argentine-Brazilian border are wider than Niagara and taller than Victoria Falls — Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly said upon seeing them: "Poor Niagara."

Own this 50 Australes and hold a tangible piece of Argentina's most turbulent monetary chapter — a note that passed through the hands of ordinary Argentines during one of the worst economic crises of the 20th century, now preserved in collectible condition.