0,50 Pesos (50 Centavos)

This note is a product of the 2001–2002 Argentine economic collapse, during which the federal government's freeze on bank deposits — the "corralito" — created a catastrophic shortage of circulating cash. Provincial governments, unable to access funds or rely on federal supply, began issuing their own quasi-currencies. Buenos Aires Province was the largest of these issuers, and its series of fractional notes filled the gap left by hoarded coins and frozen accounts.

These provincial instruments, generically called "patacones" in the Buenos Aires series, were technically bonds redeemable for pesos but functioned as everyday currency in supermarkets, pharmacies, and government payrolls. The 50 centavos denomination addressed the acute small-change problem specifically.