100 PESO ISSUED 3.12.1999
Posted October, 2000
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J ulio
Argentino Roca (1843-1914) - at 15 years of age Sr. Roca began his
military career of over two decades which culminated with the rank
of Lieutenant General. He prepared and directed the campaign of the
Conquest of the Desert (1875-1879) that significantly contributed to
the expansion between the interior of the country and the Province
of Buenos Aires.
His candidacy to
the Presidency of the Nation unchained the conflict whose outcome
would be the nationalization of the city of Buenos Aires. The city
being converted to the Federal Capital, the prolonged face off
between the interior and the Province of Buenos Aires was closed.
His first
governmental step, expressed in the slogan "Peace and
Administration," had several aims: Law No. 1420 of common education;
border treaties with Chile and Brazil; affirmation of Argentine
rights on the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); the Law of National
Territory; creation of a single monetary standard; sanction of the
Procedure Codes; expansion of the railroad network, roads, telegraph
lines; modernization of the army; construction of schools; and
immigration growth. The first big scale industries began during this
time.
In 1898 a new
presidential order was instituted and signed that included
achievements such as: negotiations with Chile; application of the "Drago
Doctrine" and its incorporation to International American Laws; the
creation of national teaching industrial schools in agriculture and
agronomy; the increase of rail lines, the construction of seaports,
the National Congress, and the Court Palace; the distribution of
land; monetary consolidation and stability; the creation of the
National office of Retirement and Pensions; and much more.
FACE
The face contains a replica of the letter from Roca to Miguel Cane,
at the time the ambassador to Austria (January 20, 1885). Also, one
appreciates an evocation of Argentine progress lighted by the sun of
the future. The accelerated expansion of the country united with the
efficient actions of the state is transmitted to the verses of the
National Anthem: "a new and glorious nation is born on the face of
the earth." The portrait "The Conquest of the Desert" or "The
Inspection of the Rio Negro" by the Uruguayan painter Juan M. Blanes
(1830-1901) shows General Roca at his highest point reviewing the
troops.
The biographical syntheses of the hero is visualized in miniletters;
some manuscript sheets; the saber and a branch of laurel commemorate
the ruler and the man of arms; the value and two-color numbers are
formed by the repetition of the letters BCRA. The impressions are
engraved except those at the bottom which include the outline of a
horse and a lance, the repeated numerical value at regular
intervals, and geometrical motifs.
Source: Banco
Central de la Republica Argentina
Courtesy: Carlos
A. Graziadio
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