Argentina: Coins Issued and Used

The austral was the currency of Argentina between June 15, 1985 and December 31, 1991. It was subdivided into 100 centavos. The symbol was an uppercase A with an extra horizontal line: ₳. This symbol appeared on all coins issued in this currency (including centavos), to distinguish them from earlier currencies. The ISO 4217 code is ARA.

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 ley 18.188, usually known as either peso or, to distinguish it from the earlier peso moneda nacional, informally as peso ley, was the currency of Argentina between January 1, 1970 and May 5, 1983. It was subdivided into 100 centavos. Its symbol was $, sometimes $L. Its name comes from law 18188 which established it, effective April 5, 1969. Its ISO 4217 code was ARL.

The peso moneda nacional was the currency of Argentina from November 5, 1881 to January 1, 1970, the date in which the Argentine peso ley was issued to the Argentine public. It was subdivided into 100 centavos, with the argentino worth 5 pesos. Its symbol was m$n or $m/n. Its ISO 4217 code was ARM.

In 1826, two paper money issues began, denominated in pesos. One, the peso fuerte ($F) (ISO 4217: ARF) 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 peso moneda corriente was a non-convertible Argentine paper currency which circulated between 9 January 1826 and 4 November 1881. Its symbol was $m/c. It was also known as the peso papel (paper money).

The peso moneda corriente was introduced at par with the peso fuerte ($F) but was devalued several times during its life. In the period from 3 January 1867 to 17 May 1876, the peso moneda corriente could be converted to gold, at the rate $m/c 25 = $F 1, in the Oficina de Cambios (exchange office) of the Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. The office closed in 1876 because the people exchanged pesos for gold in large quantities. The peso moneda corriente was replaced by the peso moneda nacional at the rate of 25 pesos moneda corriente = 1 peso moneda nacional.

During the period the peso moneda corriente was in use, currencies from other countries were also used (especially the Bolivian boliviano).

The real was the currency of Argentina until 1881. From 1822, it was subdivided into 10 décimos. The sol was also issued during this period and was equal to the real, whilst the peso was worth 8 reales and the escudo was worth 16 reales.

Spanish colonial reales circulated alone until 1813, when Argentina began issuing its own coins. From 1820, paper money was also issued. In 1826, the peso moneda corriente and peso fuerte were introduced in paper money only. In 1854, coins were issued denominated in centavos. However, decimalization did not occur until in 1881, when the real was replaced by the peso moneda nacional at a rate of 8 reales to 1 peso.