Argentina P364 200 Pesos 2016-2021 UNC—Random Series Letter—Whale

Argentina's Native Animals series is one of the most celebrated wildlife banknote designs in the world — vivid, colorful, and alive with some of South America's most iconic creatures. The 200 Pesos southern right whale note is a sweeping, blue-toned tribute to the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis), Argentina's most majestic marine animal and a declared Natural National Monument — depicted here breaching in full glory against the open South Atlantic.

Front

• Colors: blue (dominant engraving), light blue background, gold accents
• Subject: Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) breaching
• Motif: Stylized flowers
• Denomination: DOSCIENTOS PESOS
• Issuer: BANCO CENTRAL DE LA REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA
• Legend: BALLENA FRANCA AUSTRAL — MONUMENTO NATURAL NACIONAL (Southern Right Whale — Natural National Monument)
• Signatures: Varies by variety — see Varieties below

Back

• Colors: blue background, dark blue engraving, gold accents
• Scene: Valdés Peninsula (Península Valdés) coastal landscape
• Map: Argentina with PARTE CONTINENTAL AMERICANA
• Emblem: Coat of arms of Argentina
• Legend: REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA — en unión y libertad — Península Valdés — Patrimonio de la Humanidad (Argentine Republic — in union and liberty — Valdés Peninsula — World Heritage Site)

Other Characteristics

• Varieties:
  • a1 ND(2016-2018) — Sturzenegger/Monzo, Series A–F
  • a1r — Replacement, prefix R suffix A
  • a2 ND(2019) — Sandleris/Monzo, Series F–G
  • a2r — Replacement, prefix R suffix A
  • a3 ND(2020-2021) — Pesce/Massa, Series G–H
  • a3r — Replacement, prefix R suffix A
• Catalog numbers: P-364; Numista N#201699
• Watermark: Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) and electrotype "200"
• Security strip: Holographic effect; moving letters "BCRA" (Central Bank of the Argentine Republic)
• UV activity: Active fluorescent elements visible under ultraviolet light
• 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
• Currency: Argentine Peso (ARS)

About Argentina

• Origin of name: From Latin argentum (silver), referencing the silver-rich Río de la Plata basin that early Spanish explorers hoped to exploit
• Capital: Buenos Aires (city pop. ~3.1 million; metro pop. ~15.5 million)
  • Origin of name: Spanish for "fair winds" (buenos aires), named by Spanish colonizers in the 16th century
• Population: ~46 million (UN 2023) — roughly California and Texas combined
• Area: 2,780,400 km² (1,073,500 mi²) — roughly the size of India, or the entire contiguous US east of the Mississippi plus Texas
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$25,000 (IMF 2023)
• 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); Mercosur (founding member, 1991; hosts secretariat in Montevideo); G20 (founding member, 1999); OAS (founding member, 1948);
• Sovereignty:
  • Pre-colonial — home to diverse indigenous peoples including the Mapuche, Guaraní, and Quechua
  • Spanish colonization (1516–1816) — Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata established 1776
  • Independence declared May 25, 1810 (Revolution) and July 9, 1816 (formal)
  • Federal Republic (1861–date) — unified under Bartolomé Mitre after civil wars
  • Military dictatorships (1930–1983, intermittent) — most brutal: 1976–1983 Dirty War (~30,000 disappeared)
  • Return to democracy (1983–date) — Raúl Alfonsín elected; this note issued during this period

Argentina Unfiltered

• Argentina spans five distinct ecological zones — from the subtropical Yungas cloud forests of the northwest to the windswept Patagonian steppe, the Pampas grasslands, the Gran Chaco scrubland, and the sub-Antarctic forests of Tierra del Fuego
• The southern right whale was hunted to near-extinction by the 19th century; today the waters around the Valdés Peninsula host one of the world's largest and most studied populations, with over 3,000 individuals returning each year to breed
• Península Valdés was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 for its extraordinary marine wildlife — including southern right whales, elephant seals, sea lions, and orcas that beach themselves to hunt
• Argentina is home to the Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the few glaciers in the world that is not retreating
• The country has defaulted on its sovereign debt nine times, including the largest sovereign default in history ($100 billion) in 2001
• Argentina has won the FIFA World Cup three times (1978, 1986, 2022) and produced Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona
• Argentina is the world's largest Spanish-speaking country by area

One of the World's Most Beautiful Wildlife Banknote Series

Argentina's Native Animals series — issued from 2016 onward — was a deliberate celebration of the country's extraordinary biodiversity. Each denomination features a different iconic species in rich, saturated color: the hornero, the jaguar, the taruca deer, the Andean condor — and on the 200 Pesos, the southern right whale. The design gives the whale the full canvas it deserves: a dramatic breach, rendered in deep blue engraving, with stylized flowers framing the composition.

The reverse pairs the whale's habitat — the Valdés Peninsula, a UNESCO World Heritage Site — with Argentina's map and coat of arms, grounding this oceanic giant in its geographic home. It is one of the few banknotes in the world to feature a whale as its primary subject, and one of the most striking.

The Whale That Came Back

The southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) was one of the most relentlessly hunted animals in history — slow-moving, buoyant when dead, and rich in oil, it was the "right" whale to kill. By the early 20th century, populations had collapsed to the brink of extinction. What followed is one of conservation's great success stories: protected since 1935 in Argentina, the southern right whale has made a remarkable recovery. Every year, hundreds of mothers and calves return to the sheltered bays of the Valdés Peninsula to give birth — one of the most reliable and accessible whale-watching spectacles on Earth.

Argentina declared the southern right whale its Natural National Monument in 1984 — the same status bestowed on the jaguar, the Andean condor, and the other animals of this banknote series. This note is, in a sense, a conservation certificate printed on paper: a government's formal declaration that these creatures matter.

Own This Piece of Argentina

Own this Uncirculated Argentina P-364 200 Pesos — a crisp, unfolded example of one of the most beautiful wildlife banknote designs ever produced in the Americas, bearing the image of a whale that nearly vanished from the Earth and came back. A stunning addition to any world banknote collection, Latin American currency set, or marine wildlife-themed display.