Description and research notes
This 5 Pesos Bolivianos remainder was prepared in 1867 for Oxandaburu y Garvino of Gualeguaychu, Entre Rios, during an early period of private and provincial paper-money issuance in Argentina. The note preserves its original left counterfoil together with the complete unsigned banknote face and carries serial number 009148 on both sections, directly linking the retained accounting stub with the principal note.
The most immediately distinctive feature is the issuer name printed across the face: OXANDABURU Y GARVINO. The banking partnership was formed by Oxandaburu and Domingo Luis Garbino, whose surname was correctly spelled with a B. On this first series, however, the engraved plates rendered the name as GARVINO with a V. The spelling became part of the physical identity of the 1867 issue and connects this early partnership currency directly with the later Banco Domingo Garbino notes carrying the corrected surname.
The main note is denominated CINCO PESOS BOLIVIANOS and dated at Gualeguaychu, Diciembre 1 de 1867. The payment clause reads PAGARAN AL PORTADOR Y A LA VISTA, establishing the note as a bearer obligation payable on presentation. Large repeated 5 denomination devices, a pale red denomination underprint, engraved border work, and finely patterned security backgrounds organize the face around the central monetary promise.
The left counterfoil remains fully attached and repeats serial number 009148. It carries the denomination Cinco pesos bolivianos, the issuer name OXANDABURU Y GARVINO, and the same Gualeguaychu date. The retained stub preserves the accounting structure of the original banknote format, in which the bank could maintain a corresponding record when a note was separated and released for circulation.
Two principal engraved vignettes dominate the design. At left, a rural scene shows a standing man and woman within an agricultural setting, surrounded by elements of country life. At upper center-right, a finely engraved horse head appears above the payment text. Together with the denomination panels and ornamental engraving, these images connect the note visually with the rural economy and livestock culture that formed an important part of nineteenth-century Argentine commerce.
The note was produced by the American Bank Note Company in New York, whose imprint appears within the design. Its engraved line work, portrait-style vignette treatment, repeating denomination devices, intricate borders, and layered color printing reflect the export security-printing methods used by ABNC for banks and issuing institutions throughout Latin America during the nineteenth century.
The denomination in Pesos Bolivianos records the fragmented monetary environment of Argentina during the 1860s. Bolivian silver circulated extensively through the interior provinces and served as a familiar monetary reference in regional trade. Private banking institutions could therefore issue paper obligations expressed directly in pesos bolivianos, linking fiduciary paper with the metallic currency already recognized in everyday commerce.
The 1867 Oxandaburu y Garvino issue also forms the earlier stage of a short institutional progression preserved elsewhere in this collection. Two years later, the corrected GARBINO spelling appears on Banco Domingo Garbino notes denominated in Pesos Fuertes and activated for circulation through prominent red DOMINGO GARBINO overprints. Together, these notes document the transition from the Oxandaburu partnership and GARVINO plate spelling to the later Banco Domingo Garbino identity.
As a remainder, the piece preserves the printed monetary form before completion for circulation. The signature fields remain unused, while the counterfoil and principal note survive together as produced. The reverse is blank, making the fully developed engraved face and attached accounting stub the complete printed structure of this denomination.
Pick S1776r, this 1867 5 Pesos Bolivianos remainder preserves an early GARVINO-spelling issue of the Oxandaburu partnership together with its matching serial-number counterfoil, ABNC engraving, Gualeguaychu issue context, Bolivian-denominated monetary language, and original unissued format.
Related examples in this collection: Oxandaburu y Garvino 20 Pesos Bolivianos Remainder, Banco Domingo Garbino 1 Peso Fuerte Issued Note with Red Overprint, Banco Domingo Garbino 5 Pesos Fuertes Issued Note with Red Overprint.