Argentine austral


The austral was the currency of Argentina between 15 June 1985, and 31 December 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.

History

Finance Minister Juan Vital Sourrouille devised the Austral plan. The austral replaced the peso argentino at a rate of ₳1 = $a1,000, making the austral worth US$1.25, or 80 centavos de austral per U.S. dollar.
In 1992, the austral was itself replaced by the convertible peso at a rate of $1 = ₳10,000.

Coins

In 1985, coins were introduced for, 1, 5, 10 and 50 centavos. The ¢ was only issued in 1985, whilst production of the 1¢ ceased in 1987, 5¢ ceased in 1988, and that of the other centavo coins ended in 1989. In 1989, ₳1, ₳5 and ₳10 coins were issued, followed in 1990 and 1991 by ₳100, ₳500 and ₳1,000 denominations.

Banknotes

In 1985, provisional issues were made consisting of $a1000, $a5000 and $a10,000 notes overstamped with the values ₳1, ₳5 and ₳10.
ValueCommentsPortraitEntered circulationWithdrawnImage
₳1ProvisionalJosé de San Martín31 Oct 198530 Nov 1987
₳5ProvisionalJuan Bautista Alberdi31 Oct 198530 Nov 1987
₳10ProvisionalManuel Belgrano31 Oct 198530 Nov 1987

Between 1985 and 1991, the following notes were issued by the Banco Central:
ValueCommentsPortraitEntered circulationWithdrawnImagevalue in 1992 convertible peso
₳1DefinitiveBernardino Rivadavia31 Oct 198531 Oct 1991
₳5DefinitiveJusto José de Urquiza28 Feb 198631 Oct 1991
₳10DefinitiveSantiago Derqui30 Dec 198531 Oct 1991
₳50DefinitiveBartolomé Mitre23 Jun 198631 Dec 1991
₳100DefinitiveDomingo F. Sarmiento25 Nov 19851 Jun 1992Arg$0.01
₳500DefinitiveNicolás Avellaneda2 May 19881 Jun 1992Arg$0.05
₳1,000DefinitiveJulio A. Roca30 Sep 19881 Jun 1992Arg$0.10
₳5,000DefinitiveJuárez Celman26 May 19891 Oct 1992Arg$0.50
₳10,000ProvisionalJosé de San Martín31 Jul 198931 Aug 1991Arg$1
₳10,000DefinitiveCarlos Pellegrini25 Aug 19891 Oct 1992Arg$1
₳50,000ProvisionalJosé de San Martín2 Jun 198931 Aug 1991Arg$5
₳50,000DefinitiveLuis Sáenz Peña8 Nov 19892 Jan 1993 Arg$5
₳100,000DefinitiveJosé E. Uriburu21 May 19902 Jan 1993Arg$10
₳500,000ProvisionalJosé de San Martín2 Jul 199031 Oct 1991 Arg$50
₳500,000DefinitiveManuel Quintana1 Nov 19902 Jan 1993Arg$50

All banknotes except the provisional types show on the back an image of Liberty with a torch and shield. The provisional banknotes were produced from modified peso ley plates. On the obverses, the word PESOS were erased, whilst the reverse designs substituted the picture with the denomination written in words without spaces in several rows. The denomination was shown on both faces in the form ₳10 MIL, ₳50 MIL and ₳500 MIL.