Heritage

The museum hosts over 15,000 rare and unique pieces that make up Argentina’s heritage. The collection ranges from different forms of currency used in the Pre-Columbian territory of the Americas—such as cocoa beans and copper axes—to a significant stock of Spanish-American reales and doubloons belonging to the Viceroyalty of Peru and of the Río de la Plata.

In addition, since the May Revolution historical coins and banknotes from the Argentine Nation and its provinces—current currency included—are on display.

This heritage also treasures elements related to the manufacture of coins and banknotes, such as sketches, drafts, plaster plates, trials, molds, stamps, sheets, banknote sheets, and an archive with original historical documents.

With the passage of time, the museum’s specimens have increased through countless third parties’ donations and significant purchases. The collections exhibited include the first patriotic coins of 1813 manufactured in Potosi and ordered by the Constituent General Assembly of the Year XIII, and the Gold Patacón—unique piece minted in 1881 to be given as a present to the then President of Argentina, General Julio A. Roca—.

Some of the rarest pieces include commemorative coins, which were coined as commissioned by a Frenchman who proclaimed himself King of Araucania and Patagonia in 1874. Moreover, there are on display some pieces manufactured by a Romanian engineer Julio Popper who, chasing the gold fever in Tierra del Fuego, crafted coins with tools designed with his own hands.