The peso (established as the peso convertible) is the currency of Argentina since 1992, identified within Argentina by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using peso or dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos, but due to rapid inflation, coins with a face value below one peso are now rarely used. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS.[2] It replaced the austral at a rate of 10,000 australes to one peso.
Argentine currency has experienced severe inflation, with periods of hyperinflation, since the mid-20th century, with periodic change of the currency to a new version at a rate ranging from 100:1 to 10,000:1. A new peso introduced in 1992, officially the peso convertible de curso legal, was worth 10,000,000,000,000 (ten trillion) pesos moneda nacional, the currency in use until 1970. Since the early 21st century, the peso has experienced further substantial inflation, reaching 287.9% year-on-year in March 2024, the highest since the current peso was introduced in the Convertibility plan of 1991.[3]
The official exchange rate for the United States dollar valued the peso convertible de curso legal at one US dollar at its introduction in 1992, which was maintained until early 2002. Afterwards, it went from a 3:1 exchange rate with the US dollar in 2003 to 178:1 in early 2023. On 14 August 2023, the official exchange rate was fixed at ARS$350 to one US dollar; the unregulated rate valued the peso at ARS$665 to one US dollar.[4] On 15 November 2023, the crawling peg was restored.[5]
In 12 December 2023, following the election of president Javier Milei, economy minister Luis Caputo changed the official exchange rate to 800 pesos to the U.S. dollar from the previous 366.5, a devaluation of 54%, to be followed by a monthly devaluation target of 2%.[6] At the time, the unofficial exchange rate was around 1000 pesos per dollar.[7]
History
Amounts in earlier pesos were sometimes preceded by a "$" sign and sometimes, particularly in formal use, by symbols identifying that it was the specific currency in use at the time, for example "$+m⁄n100" or "m$n100" for pesos moneda nacional. The peso introduced in 1992 is just called peso (until 2002, peso convertible), and is written preceded by a "$" sign only. Earlier pesos replaced currencies also called peso, and sometimes two varieties of peso coexisted, making it necessary to have a distinguishing term to use, at least in the transitional period; the 1992 peso replaced a currency with a different name, austral.
Peso before 1826
The peso was a name often used for the silver Spanish eight-real coin. Following independence, Argentina began issuing its own coins, denominated in reales, soles and escudos, including silver eight-real (or sol) coins still known as pesos.
These coins, together with those from neighbouring countries, circulated until 1881.
Peso fuerte, 1826–1881
200 pesos fuertes banknote issued in 1869
In 1826, two paper money issues began, denominated in pesos. One, the peso fuerte ($F) was a convertible currency, with 17 pesos fuertes equal to one Spanish ounce (27.0643 g) of 0.916 fine gold. It was replaced by the peso moneda nacional at par in 1881.
The non-convertible peso moneda corriente (everyday currency) ($m/c) was also introduced in 1826. It started at par with the peso fuerte, but depreciated with time.
Although the Argentine Confederation issued 1-, 2- and 4-centavo coins in 1854, with 100 centavos equal to 1 peso = 8 reales, Argentina did not decimalize until 1881. The peso moneda nacional (m$n or $m/n) replaced the earlier currencies at the rate of 1 peso moneda nacional = 8 reales = 1 peso fuerte = 25 peso moneda corriente. Initially, one peso moneda nacional coin was made of silver and known as patacón. However, the 1890 economic crisis ensured that no further silver coins were issued.
Gold and silver pesos, 1881–1970
The Argentine gold coin from 1875 was the gold peso fuerte, one and two-thirds of a gram of gold of fineness 900, equivalent to one and a half grams of fine gold, defined by Law no. 733 of 1875. This unit was based on that recommended by the European Congress of Economists in Paris in 1867 and adopted by Japan in 1873 (the Argentine 5 peso fuerte coin was equivalent to the Japanese 5 yen). However, these provisions were not implemented.[8]
The system before 1881 has been described as "monetary anarchism" (anarquía monetaria).[8] Law no. 1130 of 1881 put an end to this; it established the monetary unit as the peso oro sellado ("stamped gold peso"), a coin of 1.612g of gold of fineness 900 (90%), and the silver peso, 25g of silver of fineness 900.[8] Gold coins of 5 and 2.5 pesos were to be used, silver coins of one peso and 50, 20, 10 and 5 centavos, and copper coins of 2 and 1 centavos.
5 cents moneda nacional banknote featuring Nicolás Avellaneda, 1891
The depreciated peso moneda corriente was replaced in 1881 by the paper peso moneda nacional (national currency, (m$n or $m/n)) at a rate of 25 to 1. This currency was used from 1881 until January 1, 1970.[9] The design was changed in 1899 and, again, in 1942.
Initially the peso m$n was convertible, with a value of one peso oro sellado. Convertibility was maintained off and on, with decreasing value in gold, until it was finally abandoned in 1929, when m$n 2.2727 was equivalent to one peso oro.
The peso ley 18.188 (ISO 4217: ARL) (informally called the peso ley) replaced the previous currency at a rate of 1 peso ley to 100 pesos moneda nacional.
The peso argentino ($a) (ISO 4217: ARP) replaced the previous currency at a rate of 1 peso argentino to 10,000 pesos ley (1 million pesos m$n). The currency was born just before the return of democracy, on June 1, 1983. However, it rapidly lost its purchasing power and was devalued several times, and was replaced by a new currency called the austral in June 1985.
The austral ("₳") (ISO 4217: ARA) replaced the peso argentino at a rate of 1 austral to 1,000 pesos (one billion pesos m$n). During the period of circulation of the austral, Argentina suffered from hyperinflation. The last months of President Raul Alfonsín's period in office in 1989 saw prices increase constantly (200% in July alone), reflected in a worsening exchange rate. Emergency notes of 10,000, 50,000 and 500,000 australes were issued, and provincial administrations issued their own currency for the first time in decades. The value of the currency stabilized two years after President Carlos Menem was elected.
Peso convertible, since 1992
In 1992 a new peso (ISO 4217: ARS) was introduced, referred to as peso convertible since the international exchange rate was fixed by the Central Bank at 1 peso to 1 U.S. dollar, and for every peso convertiblecirculating, there was a US dollar in the Central Bank's foreign currency reserves. It replaced the austral at a rate of 1 peso = 10,000 australes. After the various changes of currency and dropping of zeros, one peso convertible of 1992 was equivalent to 10 trillion pesos moneda nacional of 1970.
After the financial crisis of 2001, the fixed exchange rate system was abandoned in January 2002, and the exchange rate fluctuated, up to a peak of four pesos to one dollar (a 75% devaluation) at the time. The resulting export boom produced a massive inflow of dollars into the Argentine economy, which helped lower their price. For a time the administration stated and maintained a strategy of keeping the exchange rate at between 2.90 and 3.10 pesos per US dollar, in order to maintain the competitiveness of exports and encourage import substitution by local industries. When necessary, the Central Bank issues pesos and buys dollars in the free market (sometimes large amounts, of the order of 10 to US$100 million per day) to keep the dollar price from dropping, and had amassed over US$27 billion in reserves before the US$9.81 billion payment to the International Monetary Fund in January 2006.
The effect of this may be compared to the neighboring Brazilian real, which was roughly on par with the Argentine peso until the beginning of 2003, when both currencies were about three per U.S. dollar. The real started gaining in value more than the peso due to Brazil's slower build-up of dollar reserves; by 29 December 2009, a real was worth almost 2.2 pesos.[10]
The official exchange rate was on 1 April 2016 of 14.4 to US$1.[11] The rate gradually worsened; on 29 July 2022 one U.S. dollar was quoted at 131.22 pesos at the official rate and 298 pesos, 2.27 times higher (+127%), in unregulated markets.[12] By September 2023, the official exchange rate had reached 350 pesos to the dollar, and over 720 pesos on unregulated markets.[13]
In 12 December 2023, following the election of president Javier Milei, economy minister Luis Caputo changed the official exchange rate to 800 pesos to the dollar from the previous 366.5, a devaluation of 54%, to be followed by a monthly devaluation target of 2%.[14] At the time, the unofficial exchange rate was around 1000 pesos per dollar.[15]
Coins
In 1992, 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 centavo coins were introduced, followed by 1 peso in 1994. Two-peso coins were introduced in 2010. One-centavo coins were last minted in 2001. In 2017 a new series of coins was issued in denominations of $1 and $5, followed by $2 and $10 in 2018.[16]
Circulating coins of the Argentine peso (1st series)
2 peso coins were issued in 1999 to commemorate the centenary of the birth of writer Jorge Luis Borges, with Borges portrayed on the obverse and a labyrinth and the Hebrew letter aleph on the reverse. On September 18, 2002, a 2-peso coin with Eva Perón's face was introduced to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her death; this coin was to replace the AR$2 banknote if inflation continued to be high. None of the 2-peso coins are widely circulated.
In 1992, banknotes were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100pesos. The 1-peso note was replaced by a coin in 1994. Until 2001 banknotes bore the legend "Convertibles de curso legal", meaning that their value was fixed to the same amount in US dollars. As most older bills have been replaced, it is rare to find ones marked as convertible except in the $100 denominations. All bills are 155 × 65mm in size.[40]
Eva Perón; based on the design of a 5-peso banknote planned to be released following her 1952 death, but unreleased due to the coup that deposed President Juan Perón
In 2016, the Banco Central de la República Argentina issued a new series of banknotes, with the 200- and 500-peso banknotes as the newest denominations. New 20- and 1,000-peso notes were issued in 2017, and new banknotes of 50 and 100 pesos were issued in 2018. A new series of coins in denominations of $1, $2, $5, and $10 was issued from 2018.[41][42][43]
The design concept of a banknote of 5,000 pesos was shown on 16 May 2020.[44][45] The note was not issued, but the design was used for the $2,000 note announced in February 2023.
Fifth Series
In May 2022, the Banco Central de la República Argentina announced a new series of 100-, 200-, 500-, and 1,000-peso notes,[46][47][48][49][50] replacing the animal motifs of the 2016 series with pictures of Argentine historical figures and events while maintaining the color scheme, to be released within the following six months; however, no plans to put these designs into circulation have been made as of May 2023. In March 2023 a $2,000 note was issued, portraying the Instituto Malbrán and pioneering doctors Cecilia Grierson and Ramón Carrillo.[51][52] It does not have a security thread, and uses the design and plates originally intended for the $5,000 note described in May 2020.[53] The new $2,000 note was put into circulation on 22 May 2023.[54]
On 11 January 2024, the Central Bank announced that it would issue 10,000-peso and 20,000-peso notes by June 2024. The design that was for the 500-peso note will be used for the 10,000-peso instead.[55][56]
At the end of 2011, exchange control measures were implemented, which managed to reduce capital flight by 85%. One consequence of these measures was the appearance of multiple exchange rates and a parallel market (colloquially called the "blue dollar"), which was accessed by individuals and companies.
The "blue dollar," with a substantially higher value compared to the commercial dollar, allows foreigners to spend less when acquiring Argentine pesos.[57]
Special official exchange rates are sometimes created and abolished, to support sectors of the economy. There has been a "soybean dollar", a special rate for soybean exports, that was applicable between 5 and 30 September 2022,[58] between 20 November and 30 December 2022,[59] again between 8 April and 31 May 2023,[60] and again from 5 September to 25 October 2023.[61] A "corn dollar" for corn exports existed between 25 July and 31 August 2023.[62]
On 4 November 2022 a "foreign tourist dollar" rate close to the black market rate (355 pesos to the dollar instead of the official 195 at the end of February 2023) was introduced, for purchases made with foreign payment cards. This was to encourage people to visit the country while discouraging them from using the currency black market. Tourist dollars spent in January 2023 were nearly five times as many as in January 2022.[63]
The following table, always up-to-date, lists current official interbank rates; the parallel rate values the peso significantly lower.
The Mexican peso is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 16th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$".
The peso is the currency of Chile. The current peso has circulated since 1975, with a previous version circulating between 1817 and 1960. Its symbol is defined as a letter S with either one or two vertical bars superimposed prefixing the amount, $ or ; the single-bar symbol, available in most modern text systems, is almost always used. Both of these symbols are used by many currencies, most notably the United States dollar, and may be ambiguous without clarification, such as CLP$ or US$. The ISO 4217 code for the present peso is CLP. It was divided into 100 centavos until 31 May 1996, when the subdivision was formally eliminated. In February 2023, the exchange rate was around CLP$800 to US$1.
The Philippine peso, also referred to by its Filipino name piso, is the official currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 sentimo, also called centavos.
The bolívar is the official currency of Venezuela. Named after the hero of South American independence Simón Bolívar, it was introduced following the monetary reform in 1879, before which the venezolano was circulating. Due to its decades-long reliance on silver and gold standards, and then on a peg to the United States dollar, it was considered among the most stable currencies and was internationally accepted until 1964, when the government decided to adopt a floating exchange rate instead.
The córdoba is the currency of Nicaragua. It is divided into 100 centavos.
The Colombian peso is the currency of Colombia. Its ISO 4217 code is COP. The official peso symbol is $, with Col$. also being used to distinguish it from other peso- and dollar-denominated currencies.
The Cuban peso also known as moneda nacional, is the official currency of Cuba.
The convertible peso was one of two official currencies in Cuba, the other being the Cuban peso. It had been in limited use since 1994, when its value was pegged 1:1 to the United States dollar.
The lempira is the currency of Honduras. It is subdivided into 100 centavos.
Peso dominicano has been the name of the currency of the Dominican Republic since 2010. Its symbol is "$", with "RD$" used when distinction from other pesos is required; its ISO 4217 code is "DOP". Each peso is divided into 100 centavos ("cents"), for which the ¢ symbol is used. With exception of the United States dollar, it is the only currency that is legal tender in the Dominican Republic for all monetary transactions, whether public or private.
The boliviano is the currency of Bolivia. It is divided into 100 cents or centavos in Spanish. Boliviano was also the name of the currency of Bolivia between 1864 and 1963. From April 2018, the manager of the Central Bank of Bolivia, Pablo Ramos, announced the introduction of the new family of banknotes of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, started with the 10 Bs note, and then gradually arrived to introduce the 200 Bs note, presented in April 2019. The new family of banknotes of the Plurinational State received several awards such as "the best banknotes in Latin America", was highlighted by its security measures, its aesthetics and its inclusion of prominent figures in Bolivian history, being among those who awarded the "Latin American High Security Printing Press Conference".
The colón is the currency of Costa Rica. It was named after Christopher Columbus, known as Cristóbal Colón in Spanish. A colón is divided into one hundred céntimos.
The peso boliviano was the currency of Bolivia from January 1, 1963, until December 31, 1986. It was replaced by the boliviano. It was divided into 100 centavos. The conversion rate was 1,000,000 pesos bolivianos to 1 boliviano. "$b." was the currency symbol for the peso boliviano.
The austral was the currency of Argentina between June 15, 1985, and December 31, 1991. It was divided into 100 centavos. The symbol was an uppercase A with an extra horizontal line, (₳). This symbol appeared on all coins issued in this currency, to distinguish them from earlier currencies.
The peso argentino was the currency of Argentina between June 1, 1983, and June 14, 1985. It was subdivided into 100 centavos. The symbol was $a. The ISO 4217 code was ARP.
The peso moneda nacional was the currency of Argentina from 5 November 1881 to 1 January 1970, the date in which the peso ley 18.188 was issued to the Argentine public. It was subdivided into 100 centavos, with the argentino worth 5 pesos. The peso was introduced to replace the Argentine peso moneda corriente at a rate of $+m⁄c 25 = m$n 1.
The peso moneda corriente was a non-convertible Argentine paper currency which circulated between 9 January 1826, and 4 November 1881. It was worth eight reales. Its symbol was $m/c. It was also known as the peso papel.
This is an outline of Uruguay's monetary history. For the present currency of Uruguay, see Uruguayan peso.
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Cunietti-Ferrando, Arnaldo J.: Monedas de la Republica Argentina desde 1813 a nuestros Dias. Cooke & Compañia. Editores Numismaticos, Buenos Aires, 1978.
Cunietti-Ferrando, Arnaldo J.: Monedas y Medallas. Cuatro siglos de historia y Arte. Coins and Medals. Four centuries of history and art. Manrique Zago ediciones, Buenos Aires, 1989.
Janson, Hector Carlos: La Moneda Circulante En El Territorio Argentino 1767–1998. Buenos Aires, 1998.
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