MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina new bills: Evita and Malvinas out, replaced by Andean deer and condor

The 100-Peso bill with the image of Evita Peron, will be replaced by the image of a Taruca or Andean deer.

Inflation plagued Argentina will be issuing higher denomination bills and at the same time will avoid politics and history, concentrating on images of autochthonous fauna in danger of extinction. This means that the latest bills issued, 100 and 50 Pesos, with the image of Evita Peron, and Falklands/Malvinas and the notorious Gaucho Rivero, should quickly become collection pieces.

 The two bills were the initiative of ex-president Cristina Fernandez' administration and were clearly political: the 100 Peso bill had the image of Evita Peron, an icon for many millions of Argentines, and also the ongoing reference for Cristina. It will be replaced by the image of a Taruca or Andean deer.

The Malvinas landscape and the notorious fugitive Gaucho Rivero, were part of Cristina Fernandez very active and aggressive campaign on the disputed South Atlantic islands. The mighty condor will be now the image of the new 50 Pesos bill.

According to the Argentine central bank, “Issuing larger notes is a practical necessity for the better functioning of the ATMs and to lower the cost of moving cash. Nevertheless, the Central Bank will encourage the use of electronic means of payment and will move forward on that direction in the near future,” the monetary authority said in a press release.

Alongside issuing larger bills, the Central Bank will print new series of the 20, 50 and 100 pesos notes, which will be available starting next year. They will co-exist with the old notes for some time, the monetary authority said. A 5-peso and 10-peso coin will also be minted next year, followed by new coins of one and two pesos.

Argentina will also be breaking a 24-year streak in which the 100-Peso note has been the largest denomination for the local currency. The new bills that should be ready in the first half of the year, 200 and 500-peso banknotes will begin to be printed, followed by a 1,000-peso note in 2017.

The move comes after years in which former president Cristina Fernández' administration pushed back against calls for higher-denomination bills. The refusal to print higher-denomination notes came as the peso steadily lost value over the past decade. While the 100-peso note was worth US$34 in 2003, it is now worth a paltry US$7.2.

The southern right whale was the animal chosen to illustrate the 200-Peso note, representing the region of the South Atlantic and Antarctica. Meanwhile, the 500-Peso note will feature the Yaguareté, a type of jaguar, to represent the North-East region. The 1,000-Peso note — to be available next year — will include the Hornero (or 'oven' bird), the national bird, representing the central provinces.

“With this new family of notes, the Central Bank wants to highlight nature’s generosity to Argentina and highlight the importance of looking after and encouraging the biodiversity,” the monetary authority said. “By electing fauna from different regions, the Central Bank wants all Argentines to feel represented.”

When the news broke out, Alejandro Vanoli, the former central bank governor, from ex president Cristina Fernandez administration revealed that the bank had plans to print new 200-Peo and 500-Peso bills, and the images would be former presidents Hipolito Yrigoyen and Juan Domingo Perón. Two references of Argentina's main political forces, the Radical party and the Justicialista or Peronist movement.