Argentine peso facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Argentine peso
ISO 4217 Code	ARS
User(s)	Argentina
Inflation	271.5% in June 2024
Source	Central Bank of the Argentine Republic
Coins
Freq. used	1, 2, 5, 10 pesos
Rarely used	1, 5, 10, 25, 50 centavos, bimetallic 1 and 2 pesos (no longer minted, still valid)
Banknotes
Freq. used	10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 10,000 pesos

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 and then Central Bank introduced new issues with peso subdivisions like 1, 2, 5 and 10. Due to rapid inflation, coins are not used. Same situation occurs with 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 peso banknotes, these banknotes are no longer printed, but they are still valid. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS. 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 valuation 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 289.4% year-on-year in April 2024, the highest since the current peso was introduced in the Convertibility plan of 1991.

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. On 15 November 2023, the crawling peg was restored.

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%. At the time, the unofficial exchange rate was around 1000 pesos per dollar.

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.

Peso moneda corriente, 1826–1881

"Cinco pesos" moneda corriente banknote, issued 1869

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.

The system before 1881 has been described as "monetary anarchism" (anarquía monetaria). 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 1.612 g of gold of fineness 900 (90%), and the silver peso, 25 g of silver of fineness 900. 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.

Peso moneda nacional, 1881–1970

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. 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.

Peso ley, 1970–1983

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.

Peso argentino, 1983–1985

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.

Austral, 1985–1991

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 convertible circulating, 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.

In December 2015, US dollar exchange restrictions were removed in Argentina following the election of President Mauricio Macri. As a result, the difference between the official rate and the unofficial "blue" rate almost disappeared for a time.

The official exchange rate was on 1 April 2016 of 14.4 to US$1. 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. By September 2023, the official exchange rate had reached 350 pesos to the dollar, and over 720 pesos on unregulated markets.

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%. At the time, the unofficial exchange rate was around 1000 pesos per dollar.

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.

Currently the Central Bank has told they still legal tender, but they’re not accepted on stores and banks branches due to the negligible value and inconvenience in storage.

Commemorative coins

Commemorating the National Constitutional Convention, 2 and 5-peso nickel coins were issued in 1994.

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.

Some other 50-centavo and 1-peso coins commemorate different events, including the 50th anniversary of the creation of UNICEF (1996); the attainment of voting rights by women (1997); the establishment of Mercosur (1998); and the death of José de San Martín (2001).

Several 1 peso coins were issued in 2010 to commemorate the bicentennial of the May Revolution, all featuring the same obverse, different from the main series, and images of different places on the reverse, including Mar del Plata, the Perito Moreno Glacier, Mount Aconcagua, the Pucará de Tilcara, and El Palmar.

Banknotes of the peso convertible (1992–present)

First series (Convertibles series, 1992)

In 1992, the first series of peso convertible banknotes were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 pesos. 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 × 65 mm in size.

Second series (Nuevo diseño (New design) series, 1997)

Currently in legal circulation since 1997, coexisting with the third series since 2013, the fourth series since 2016, and the fifth series since 2023. In the issues following the year 2002, the term 'legal tender convertible' was removed from the banknotes as established by Law 25.561.

The 2-peso banknotes were withdrawn from circulation on April 30, 2018, being replaced by coins of the same denomination from the first and second series of coins. Similarly, the 5-peso banknotes were withdrawn from circulation on February 29, 2020.

Third series (Tenemos Patria (We have a country) series, 2013)

Currently in legal circulation since 2013, coexisting since then with the second series, and with the fourth series since 2016 and the fifth series since 2023.

All the banknotes of this series were announced with a title that identifies them: 5 pesos 'San Martín. The Dream of the Great Homeland', 10 pesos 'Manuel Belgrano. High in the Sky', 20 pesos 'Juan Manuel de Rosas. Heroes of the Paraná', 50 pesos 'Malvinas Islands. A Sovereign Love', 100 pesos 'Eva Perón. A Moment Towards Eternity', and 100 pesos 'Memory, Truth, and Justice. A Path to Identity'.

On April 4, 2016, it was announced that the series of 100-peso banknotes featuring María Eva Duarte de Perón would be extended with the letters AA, and it also includes a new security feature on its sides for people with visual impairments.

5-peso notes were removed from circulation 29 February 2020.

Fourth series (Native Fauna of Argentina series, 2016)

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.

5,000-peso design concept

The design concept of a banknote of 5,000 pesos was shown on 16 May 2020. The note was not issued, but the design was used for the $2,000 note announced in February 2023.

Fifth Series (Heroínas y héroes de nuestra historia – "Heroines and heroes of our history" – series, 2023- )

In May 2022, the Banco Central de la República Argentina ("Central Bank of the Argentine Republic") announced a new series of 100-, 200-, 500-, and 1,000-peso notes, 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. It does not have a security thread, and uses the design and plates originally intended for the $5,000 note described in May 2020. The new $2,000 note was put into circulation on 22 May 2023.

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.

As of early 2024, the banknotes most often used were of 1,000, 2,000, and 10,000 pesos. Because of extremely high inflation, ten-, twenty-, and fifty-peso banknotes no longer circulated, and even 100-, 200-, and 500-peso banknotes were seldom seen.

Cancelled notes (planned but not issued):

Current notes:

Exchange rates

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.

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, between 20 November and 30 December 2022, again between 8 April and 31 May 2023, and again from 5 September to 25 October 2023. A "corn dollar" for corn exports existed between 25 July and 31 August 2023.

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.

See also

In Spanish: Peso (moneda de Argentina) para niños

• Casa de Moneda de la República Argentina – Argentine mint
• Economy of Argentina
• Historical exchange rates of Argentine currency