50 Pesos 2018, Argentina
| no number in katalog | - |
| Years of issue: | 16.08.2018 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Presidente del Banco Central de la República Argentina: Luis Caputo, Presidente H.C. Diputados: Emilio Monzó |
| Serie: | Argentina’s Fauna |
| Specimen of: | 2016 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 155 х 65 |
| Printer: | Casa de Moneda de la Nación, Buenos Aires |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Andean condor and electrotype 50.
About the Andean condor, please read the description of the obverse.
Avers:
In the foreground of the banknote is the Andean condor.
Also, on top, on the banknote are paw prints of the Andean condor and its profile (flying).
The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is a South American bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae and is the only member of the genus Vultur. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the largest flying bird in the world by combined measurement of weight and wingspan. It has a maximum wingspan of 3.3 m. (10 ft 10 in.) exceeded only by the wingspans of four seabirds and water birds - the roughly 3.5 m. (11 ft 6 in.) maximum of the wandering albatross, southern royal albatross, great white pelican and Dalmatian pelican.
It is a large black vulture with a ruff of white feathers surrounding the base of the neck and, especially in the male, large white patches on the wings. The head and neck are nearly featherless, and are a dull red color, which may flush and therefore change color in response to the bird's emotional state. In the male, there is a wattle on the neck and a large, dark red comb or caruncle on the crown of the head. Unlike most birds of prey, the male is larger than the female.
The condor is primarily a scavenger, feeding on carrion. It prefers large carcasses, such as those of deer or cattle. It reaches sexual maturity at five or six years of age and nests at elevations of up to 5,000 m. (16,000 ft.), generally on inaccessible rock ledges. One or two eggs are usually laid. It is one of the world's longest-living birds, with a lifespan of over 70 years in some cases.
The Andean condor is a national symbol of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru and plays an important role in the folklore and mythology of the Andean regions. The Andean condor is considered near threatened by the IUCN. It is threatened by habitat loss and by secondary poisoning from carcasses killed by hunters. Captive breeding programs have been instituted in several countries.
The Andean condor is found in South America in the Andes, including the Santa Marta Mountains. In the north, its range begins in Venezuela and Colombia, where it is extremely rare, then continues south along the Andes in Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, through Bolivia and western Argentina to the Tierra del Fuego. In the early 19th century, the Andean condor bred from western Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego, along the entire chain of the Andes, but its range has been greatly reduced due to human activity. Its habitat is mainly composed of open grasslands and alpine areas up to 5,000 m. (16,000 ft.) in elevation. It prefers relatively open, non-forested areas which allow it to spot carrion from the air, such as the páramo or rocky, mountainous areas in general. It occasionally ranges to lowlands in eastern Bolivia and southwestern Brazil, descends to lowland desert areas in Chile and Peru, and is found over southern-beech forests in Patagonia. 
The background of the banknote resembles the natural environment of Aconcagua National Park, where the Andean condor is most common. In the upper quadrant: the sky and images of traces of the Andean condor in several directions, as a symbol of multiplicity, and decorative flowers on both edges. In the upper part, on the left, “L” means the denomination of the banknote, in roman numeral.
Since the Bank of Argentina does not give information on which particular flowers are shown on the banknote, I dare to make my own assumptions. Thank so much to Olga, from Russia, for help in search of the flowers.
On the banknote, above, the flowers of either Alstroemeria revoluta or Alstroemeria Saturn.
Alstroemeria, commonly called the Peruvian lily or lily of the Incas, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Alstroemeriaceae. They are all native to South America although some have become naturalized in the United States, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Madeira and the Canary Islands. Almost all of the species are restricted to one of two distinct centers of diversity, one in central Chile, the other in eastern Brazil. Species of Alstroemeria from Chile are winter-growing plants while those of Brazil are summer-growing. All are long-lived perennials except A. graminea, a diminutive annual from the Atacama Desert of Chile.
The genus was named after the Swedish baron Clas Alströmer (1736-1794) by his close friend Carl Linnaeus.
Plants of this genus grow from a cluster of tubers. They send up fertile and sterile stems, the fertile stems of some species reaching 1.5 meters in height. The leaves are alternately arranged and resupinate, twisted on the petioles so that the undersides face up. The leaves are variable in shape and the blades have smooth edges. The flowers are solitary or borne in umbels. The flower has six tepals each up to 5 centimeters long. They come in many shades of red, orange, purple, green, and white, flecked and striped and streaked with darker colors. There are six curving stamens. The stigma has three lobes. The fruit is a capsule with three valves. Alstroemeria are classified as an inferior monocot, meaning the petals are located above the ovary and the leaves are parallel.
Denomination in words is on top. In numerals are in three corners.
Revers:
On the right - again, flowers of Alstroemeria and paw prints of a Andean condor.
To the left of the coat of arms of Argentina is a wind rose, showing the direction — the North-West — as the habitat area of the Andean condor on a map of Argentina.
In the center is a map of Argentina and darkened areas on it, meaning areas of Andean condors habitat, today. Shaded areas (Actually, whole Argentina) - is the territory of residence of the Andean condors more than 100 years ago.
The map of Argentina shows, in addition to the continental part, the eastern part of the island of Tierra del Fuego (the western part belongs to Chile), the Falklands or the Malvinas Islands (which belong to Great Britain, but Argentina considers them its territory) and, in a rectangle, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea, in Antarctica, which Argentina also considers its territory.
The main image of the banknote is a view of the Mount Aconcagua and the area nearby. On the top, above the mountains, the profile of flying Andean condor is visible.
Aconcagua, with a summit elevation of 6,960.8 meters (22,837 ft.), is the highest mountain in both the Southern and Western Hemispheres. It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Mendoza Province, Argentina, and lies 112 km. (70 mi.) northwest of its capital, the city of Mendoza, about five km. (3.1 mi.) from San Juan Province and 15 km. (9.3 mi.) from the international border with Chile. The mountain itself lies entirely within Argentina, immediately east of Argentina's border with Chile. Its nearest higher neighbor is Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush, 16,520 kilometers (10,270 mi.) away. It is one of the Seven Summits.
Aconcagua is bounded by the Valle de las Vacas to the north and east and the Valle de los Horcones Inferior to the west and south. The mountain and its surroundings are part of the Aconcagua Provincial Park. The mountain has a number of glaciers. The largest glacier is the Ventisquero Horcones Inferior at about 10 km. (6.2 mi) long, which descends from the south face to about 3,600 m. (11,800 ft.) in altitude near the Confluencia camp. Two other large glacier systems are the Ventisquero de las Vacas Sur and Glaciar Este/Ventisquero Relinchos system at about five kilometers (3.1 mi.) long. The most well-known is the north-eastern or Polish Glacier, as it is a common route of ascent.
The origin of the name is contested; it is either from the Mapudungun Aconca-Hue, which refers to the Aconcagua River and means "comes from the other side", the Quechua Ackon Cahuak, meaning "'Sentinel of Stone", the Quechua Anco Cahuac, meaning "White Sentinel", or the Aymara Janq'u Q'awa, meaning "White Ravine".
The mountain was created by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate. Aconcagua used to be an active stratovolcano (from the Late Cretaceous or Early Paleocene through the Miocene) and consisted of several volcanic complexes on the edge of a basin with a shallow sea. However, sometime in the Miocene, about 8 to 10 million years ago, the subduction angle started to decrease resulting in a stop of the melting and more horizontal stresses between the oceanic plate and the continent, causing the thrust faults that lifted Aconcagua up off its volcanic root. The rocks found on Aconcagua's flanks are all volcanic and consist of lavas, breccias and pyroclastics. The shallow marine basin had already formed earlier (Triassic), even before Aconcagua arose as a volcano. However, volcanism has been present in this region for as long as this basin was around and volcanic deposits interfinger with marine deposits throughout the sequence. The colorful greenish, blueish and grey deposits that can be seen in the Horcones Valley and south of Puente Del Inca, are carbonates, limestones, turbidites and evaporates that filled this basin. The red colored rocks are intrusions, cinder deposits and conglomerates of volcanic origin.
On the left, on the banknote, is a small chick of Andean condor is shown, as a symbol of the survival of the species. Next to it are flowers.
In top right corner is the coat of arms of Argentina.
The coat of arms of the Argentine Republic (Escudo de la República Argentina) was established in its current form in 1944, but has its origins in the seal of the General Constituent Assembly of 1813.
It is unknown who designed the coat of arms. It is often mentioned that there were three men involved: Alvear, Monteagudo, and Vieytes, but it is known that a few years before, President Bernardino Rivadavia asked the Peruvian Antonio Isidoro Castro to create an Argentine coat of arms; however, the two schemes have never been found.
The coat of arms is a figure, in which at the top we find the gold-yellowed Sun of May, also found on the flag of Argentina. The rising sun symbolizes the rising of Argentina, as described in the first version of the Argentine National Anthem, se levanta a la faz de la tierra una nueva y gloriosa nación, meaning "a new and glorious nation rises to the surface of the Earth". It must be noticed how the verb "rise", and so in Spanish, can be used to describe the motion of the Sun.
In the center ellipse there are two shaking hands, connoting the unity of the provinces of Argentina. The hands come together to hold a pike, which represents power and willingness to defend freedom, epitomized by the Phrygian cap on the top of the spear.
The blue and white colors are symbols of the Argentine people and the same colors of the Argentine flag. The blue half of the ellipse symbolizes the sky and the white one denotes the Río de la Plata.
The hands are flesh coloured and stand for friendship, peace, unity, and brotherhood. The pike is brown (wooden), and the Phrygian cap is red, like the traditional French liberty cap. The proximity of the hands and the Phrygian cap, in addition to their individual meanings, represent the national motto of Argentina, en unión y libertad ("in unity and freedom"), and illustrate the idea that in unity (the hands) there is power (the pike), and in power there is freedom (the Phrygian cap).
The Phrygian cap was typically worn by the inhabitants of Phrygia, in the Anatolian peninsula, and is commonly mistaken for being a Pileus. The Pileus was a hat that in ancient Rome became a symbol of freed slaves, who were touched by their owners with a wooden pike before setting them free.
Laurel is another classical symbol. At the end of the ancient Olympic Games (and also the 2004 Summer Olympics), the winner was given a laurel crown, and since then it has symbolized triumph and glory.
Denominations in numerals are in lower right and top left corners.
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