10 Centavos 1891, Argentina
| in Krause book | Number: 210 |
| Years of issue: | 01.11.1891 |
| Edition: | -- |
| Signatures: | Sindico: Ramón Santamarina, Presidente de la Caja de Conversion: Nicolas Achával |
| Serie: | 1891 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 21.08.1890 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 101 х 60 |
| Printer: | Compania Sud-Americana de Billetes de Banco, Buenos Aires |
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Description
Watermark:
Avers:
The engraving on banknote is, probably, made from this photo of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. The date and an author of the photo are unknown.
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (February 15, 1811 - September 11, 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina. His writing spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history. He was a member of a group of intellectuals, known as the Generation of 1837, who had a great influence on nineteenth-century Argentina. He was particularly concerned with educational issues and was also an important influence on the region's literature.
Sarmiento grew up in a poor but politically active family that paved the way for much of his future accomplishments. Between 1843 and 1850 he was frequently in exile, and wrote in both Chile and in Argentina. His greatest literary achievement was Facundo, a critique of Juan Manuel de Rosas, that Sarmiento wrote while working for the newspaper El Progreso during his exile in Chile. The book brought him far more than just literary recognition; he expended his efforts and energy on the war against dictatorships, specifically that of Rosas, and contrasted enlightened Europe-a world where, in his eyes, democracy, social services, and intelligent thought were valued-with the barbarism of the gaucho and especially the caudillo, the ruthless strongmen of nineteenth-century Argentina.
Even in 1861, Sarmiento wrote to the governor of Buenos Aires Bartolome Mitre:
"Do not spare the blood of the gaucho, the blood - the only thing that they have a human. Their blood - fertilizer, which must be paid for the benefit of the country".
The letter itself can be seen here ( Biblioteca Escolar in spanish).
While president of Argentina from 1868 to 1874, Sarmiento championed intelligent thought-including education for children and women-and democracy for Latin America. He also took advantage of the opportunity to modernize and develop train systems, a postal system, and a comprehensive education system. He spent many years in ministerial roles on the federal and state levels where he travelled abroad and examined other education systems.
Sarmiento died in Asunción, Paraguay, at the age of 77 from a heart attack. He was buried in Buenos Aires. Today, he is respected as a political innovator and writer.
On the left side 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 words are centered and in top left corner, in numerals - in top right corner and centered.
Revers:
Shepherd gauchos on horseback.
Gaucho is a resident of the South American pampas, Gran Chaco, or Patagonian grasslands, found mainly in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Southeastern Bolivia, Southern Brazil and Southern Chile. In Brazil, gaúcho is also the main demonym of the people from the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In the Argentine pampas gauchos are the main workers on an estancia. Their duty is to herd cattle all year round. They are excellent horsemen. They also use different types of weapons like the bola and lassos for herding cattle.
Gaucho is an equivalent of the North American "cowboy" (vaquero, in Spanish), the Chilean huaso, the Cuban guajiro, the Venezuelan or Colombian llanero, the Puerto Rican jibaro, and the Mexican charro, which are terms that often connote the 19th century more than the present day; then, gauchos made up the majority of the rural population, herding cattle on the vast estancias, and practicing hunting as their main economic activities.
The Gaucho plays a nationalistic symbol in both Argentina and Uruguay. The Gauchos became greatly admired and renowned in legends, folklore and in literature and became an important part of their regional cultural tradition. Beginning late in the 19th century, after the heyday of the gauchos, they were celebrated by South American writers.
Also like the cowboy, as shown in Richard W. Slatta, Cowboys of the Americas, gauchos were and remain proud and great horseriders. Typically, a gaucho's horse constituted most of what he owned in the world. During the wars of the 19th century in the Southern Cone, the cavalries on all sides were composed almost entirely of gauchos. In Argentina, gaucho armies such as that of Martín Miguel de Güemes, slowed Spanish advances. Furthermore, many caudillos relied on gaucho armies to control the Argentine provinces.
Denominations in numerals are on right and left sides.
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