ARGENTINA

Salta Province Bonds in Argentine Pesos

In 1984 there was created in Salta Province “Bonos de Emergencia Argentina” (Argentine Emergency Bonds), under the inspiration of the accountant Marcelo Emilio Cantarero, the provincial economic minister. Bonds like this spread through several provinces of our country, and they characterized a period of our financial history that saw such issues from many provinces.

Having been issued in 1985, the values of the first bonds are expressed in pesos argentinos, the monetary symbol in use at the time on a national level. Salta was the only province that used this monetary unit and also its transition to Australes.

All values were printed in the Casa de Moneda on pasty white, cotton-based thick paper with a continual watermark. The issued notes show a close-fitting rosette in the upper left corner on the front side and the upper right-hand side of the back, composed of geometric figures in such a perfect alignment that, when held up to a light, they were back-to-back on both sides; this was a security device (perfect registration). The bonds have the provincial coat-of-arms printed on the front side, and they carried several ornate engravings on both sides. They measured 155 X 65 mm.

Face values were 100, 500, 1000, and 5000 Argentine pesos, of which the last three were later re-stamped in Australes years later. The $a100 was done in green, blue, and multicolor; the $a500 in dark brown (ochre), orange, and multicolor; the $a1000 in pink, blue, and multicolor; and the $a5000 principally in blue with multicolor also.

The numeration, along with the series letter, appears printed in the lower, left-hand corner of the front side, identifying each letter with a distinct value: the B corresponding to $a100; the C to $a500 and the re-stamped austral to A0.50 over this previous value; the D to 1,000 and re-stamped to A1.00 on the same note; the E to $a5000 with the respective re-stamping to indicate A5.00. As one can see, the letter A was not used since the same letter might have belonged to the value $a50, authorized by provincial decree 2043/84. This note was not issued by order of Decree No. 0220/85 that was substituted for the last paragraph of the previous decree.

All of the bonds have the same front-side design, and the backside has transcribed the text of Law (Ley) No. 6228, the origin of these notes. The legends on the front side are the following: the series and number of the bond in numbers and letters, the letters being written in a vertical format. The legends “Provincia de Salta/Bonos de Cancelación de Deudas/Ley 6228: (Province of Salta/Cancelation Bonds/Law 6228), the expressions “Al Portador” (To the Bearer), and “Fecha de caducidad/ 31 de diciembre de 1987” (Void date/12/31/1987), and the facsimile of the signatures of the Minister of the Economy and the Governor (Marcelo Emilio Cantarero and Roberto Romero, respectively) are present.

This quasi-money mainly was used to pay the public employees’ salaries, which forced its circulation as a means of payment at the provincial level. The central administration, as well as the municipalities, the decentralized and autarchic entities, and the rest of the provincial entities had to accept them. The public could exchange them for 100% of their value for Argentine peso banknotes issued by the Central Bank by presenting them to the Provincial Bank of Salta or the Bank of Loans and Social Action (Banco de Prestamos y Acción Social). To encourage the public to keep these bonds in circulation lottery prizes were established as special incentives. At first these lotteries were held every two weeks and later only weekly, since said notes did not carry interest.

SOURCE: Centro Numismatico Buenos Aires. El Telégrafo del Centro, Buenos Aires, Año 15, Número 49, Agosto, 2010.

Translated by: James Cameron.

Salta Prov Bonds: 12 23 10