Permanent
Temporary
Videos
- Welcome to the Museum of the Central Bank of Argentina - Introduction
- Welcome to the Museum of the Central Bank of Argentina - Room 1 | Native Peoples and Colonial Times
- Welcome to the Museum of the Central Bank of Argentina - Room 2 | Independence and National Organization
- Welcome to the Museum of the Central Bank of Argentina - Room 3 | Conservative Republic and the 20th Century
- First coins in America
Permanent Exhibitions
Argentine Currency at Present | Room 4
The methods for coin minting and banknote printing have evolved together with chemical and technological advances. This has enabled to improve the quality, resistance and durability of money in circulation and implement new and tougher security measures with a view to encouraging public trust in the currency.
At present, the money production process in our country mainly involves sophisticated printing systems, complex machines for bimetallic coinage, computer aid, and optically variable ink (containing rock microcrystals to refract light).
“Pesos” line (January 7th, 2002 — to date).
The current legal tender in the Argentine Republic is the “Peso” Line - Executive Order No. 2,128 dated October 10th, 1991, and section 12 of Law No. 23,928 on Convertibility dated March 27th, 1991.
Section 3 of Law No. 25,561 dated January 7th, 2002, repeals sections 1 and 2 of the Law on Convertibility, which provided for the convertibility of Argentine pesos into US dollars at a fixed pegging of one to one parity. Therefore, the term “convertible” was removed from banknotes pertaining to the current monetary line.
In 2016, the design of Argentine coins and banknotes featuring historical public figures was replaced by images from the flora and fauna of our country. This change is aimed at promoting federalism and the conservation of biodiversity.
Special Issuances
Dentro de las facultades del Banco Central de la República Argentina, se encuentra la de realizar emisiones especiales de monedas, con el fin de homenajear a diferentes personalidades de nuestro país, como así también hacer alusión o conmemorar diferentes sucesos económicos, sociales, políticos y culturales de nuestra historia.
Banknote Production Process
The first step is to design the background of the banknote through offset printing computer applications. This design is printed on a photographic film that is then developed on a metal sheet through a photoengraving process.
Next, the main figures are printed via chalcography. An expert engraver transfers the design to a steel sheet—by a chemical process—which is used to cast a mould for printing banknotes.
This system provides the typical relief in banknotes that may only be achieved by manual retouching. Numbering is the last stage of this process, and it is carried out by implementing a typographic technique using sophisticated inks that react to UV light.
Coin Minting
Based on a sketch in paper containing the coin design, a mould in clay is cast in three dimensions referred to as model. Next, a plaster mould is prepared to finally obtain a mould in rubber resin.
Such rubber is mounted on a copying and reducing machine, known as pantograph, which engraves a steel replica having the final coin size, referred to as punch. This punch is then improved manually by the engraver, who adds details to the coin relief to perfection.
By a striking process, using a hydraulic press, the design in the punch is transferred to a steel point thereby creating a positive print that will in turn be the mould. Lastly, the final die obtained from this mould is mounted on the coin minting machine that will produce as many units as may be necessary to replace those worn out by metallic coins of excellent quality.
Proceso de acuñación de las monedas.
Money in Circulation. Distribution and destruction.
The Central Bank sets the design and security measures of money in circulation in Argentina following up each stage of the production process of coins and banknotes. In addition, the Central Bank fosters other means of electronic payments through personal computers and mobile phones.
The BCRA’s Management Office for Treasury Operations has a key role in the supervision of money production, its issuance and distribution across the country. In the City of Buenos Aires, money is distributed through armored trucks to bank branches located in the city; regarding the provinces of our country, there are regional offices that ensure money circulation.
Finally, once banknotes are worn out due to their long lasting circulation, they are returned to the Central Bank for destruction, which is carried out under strict controls and ecologic measures to contribute towards the preservation of the environment.