 COS, Prez: Eduardo Alberto Duhalde Maldonado 2.1.2002 - 25.5.2003 |
 COS, Prez: Mauricio MACRI 12.10.2015 - 10.12.2019 |
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 P.352a 2 Pesos ND(2002) |
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| P.353 - P.356 | Images Needed | |||
 P.357a 100 Pesos WK |
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 P.UNL 5 Pesos 4.3.1953 Photographic PROOF CdM |
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 P.358c 100 Pesos 2016 WK |
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In August 1952, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic decided to
pay tribute to Mrs. Eva Duarte de Perón, by redesigning the 5 peso
banknote with her portrait on the front. On the reverse, an allegory
of her extraordinary work of social help was planned to immortalize
her legacy.
At the end of the same year, Argentina's banknote printing works,
Casa de Moneda, sent several proposed sketches developed in
according with the guidelines provided by the Central Bank (B.C.R.A.).
The submitted designs did not meet the expectations of the bank's
authorities. As a result Bank officials, technical advisers Cohen
and Giori and the artist Renato Garrasi meet in order to discuss the
general guidelines regarding the proposed banknote.
It was enough for maestro Garrasi to take informal knowledge of the ideas to present himself to that meeting with two projects of his own. From there emerges one of the most charming portraits made to Eva: the profile of a serene face and sweet smile resolved with soft shades in sepia tones. In the process of design, the Director of the Mint demands the purchase of elements, machinery and special paper for dry-printed securities and carry out the issue. Considering that during 1954 the normalization of work according to the new incorporated technologies would be achieved, being able then to print any type of banknotes engraved in steel, with the last advances of security and several colors. A contractual disagreement with the engraver Mario Baiardi and the premature death of the designer Renato Garrasi delayed the realization of the project. The advent of the self-styled coup d'état, Revolución Libertadora, marked the beginning of a systematic plan to erase the imprint of Peronism in Argentina. The banknote for Eva would thus be ostracized but the PROOF sketch was hidden behind a piece of Casa de Moneda furniture thanks to the intervention of a brave employee of the institution. A long time passed and the sketch remained dormant, waiting for a new impetus to reappear. Half a century later, during a re-functionalization of workspaces, the design department moved to a new office. It was then that the miracle took place, the original design photolith emerged at last, from the penumbra towards the light. Almost 60 years passed until the project was discovered. The hard work of documentation by the staff of the Museum of the Mint paid off and at the end of 2011, the tribute banknote was presented to Argentina society, together with the explicit intention of making it a reality. The first Evita banknote appeared as a 100 Pesos in 2012. Source: CdM (translated & edited) |
WK We gratefully acknowledge the late William N. Keijzers for images
