Money in Argentina

The currency in Argentina has been Argentine peso since 1992, originally known as the peso convertible. The peso comes in 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 peso bills, 1 peso coins have been used in place of the 1 peso note since 1994. In 1992, the peso convertible replaced the austral as Argentina’s currency. There was a long series of previous currencies, several of which were also called peso, but which were being constantly devalued to the point that each new currency would drop several zeroes from the last currency.

The peso convertible on the other hand was at first fixed as equal to one US dollar, representing actual American fiat currency held by the Argentine Government’s Central Bank, until the 2001 financial crisis when it was again allowed to float, dropping the name ‘convertible’, one peso has been around US 25 cents for the past couple of years, down from around 33 cents in the past. It’s cheaper to convert in Argentina than at home, but US dollars are popular with retailers.

Credit and debit cards are widespread, but withdrawing over 300 pesos at a time can be difficult depending on what bank you use, and there’s a charge for withdrawal. A major state-owned bank is the Banco de la Nacion Argentina.