50 Australes

La Rioja's provincial austral issues emerged from one of the most dysfunctional fiscal episodes in Argentine history. Several provinces, unable to meet payroll obligations during the late 1980s hyperinflationary collapse, resorted to issuing their own quasi-currency — legally framed as bonds but functioning as banknotes in local commerce. La Rioja was among the most aggressive issuers, and these notes circulated alongside federal currency with varying degrees of public acceptance.

Printed by Casa de Moneda in Buenos Aires, which gave them a veneer of official credibility even as the federal government privately objected to the practice. The austral itself was already a short-lived currency, introduced in 1985 to replace the peso and gone by 1992.