Matthew Patay's
Note of the Month

December 2002

Map and flag images provided by Graphic Maps

This month's featured note is from Argentina.
The denomination is 2 Pesos Convertibles and the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (SCWPM) Number is P-346.

The note is not dated, but was issued in (1997).

(obverse)
The banknote is red and blue on multicolored under print.   Bartolomé Mitre (1821–1906) is at right.   

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The following information was obtained from:
Bartleby.com

Bartolomé Mitre

(1821–1906)

Argentine statesman, general, and author, president of the republic (1862–68). An opponent of Juan Manuel de Rosas, he was forced into exile and had a colorful career as a soldier and journalist in Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile. He returned to aid Urquiza in defeating Rosas (1852). A leader of the revolt of Buenos Aires against Urquiza’s federal system, Mitre held important posts in the provincial government after Buenos Aires seceded from the confederation. He was defeated by Urquiza in the civil war of 1859, and Buenos Aires reentered the confederation. As governor after 1860, he again assumed leadership when fresh difficulties led to open war in 1861. At Pavón he won a victory for Buenos Aires; he then assumed national authority. In Oct., 1862, Mitre was elected president, and national political unity was finally achieved; a period of internal progress and reform began. He served for a time as commander of the allied forces of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay in the war against Paraguay. His political views led to attacks by Alberdi. In 1868, Mitre was succeeded as president by Sarmiento, and although still a force in politics, he devoted himself chiefly to literary work. He founded La Nación (Buenos Aires), which became one of South America’s leading newspapers. Mitre was known in his youth as a poet and in later years as a historian. His important historical works are Historia de Belgrano (1858–59, 4th ed. 1887) and Historia de San Martín y de la emancipación sudamericana (1877–88, tr. The Emancipation of South America, 1893).

(The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2002 Columbia University Press)

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(reverse)
The Mitre Museum is at left center.

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The following information was obtained from:
Museos Argentinos - Home Page

The The Mitre Museum was the home of Lieutenant General Bartolomé Mitre between 1860 and 1906.  The following year the home became a public museum and at present is under sponsorship of the Director of National Patronage and the Secretary of Culture for the Nation.

Visitors are able to tour the home of the Mitre family as it was when they lived there.  The home was the host for the newspaper "The Nation" and the original National Academy of History. 

The home has an extensive research public library and the Library of the Americas which Mitre, himself, established for his historic research works.  It also has a very important historic archive with original collections of San Martin, Belgraso and other important people from the XIX Century.

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