Cavalry Rider Conquest of Patagonia Desert 50 Pesos Argentina Authentic Coin Money for Jewelry and Craft Making (1979) (Desert Conquest) (Horseback) (Genocide of Indigenous Mapuche) (Breadbasket of Argentina)
Commemorative issue: 100th Anniversary of the Conquest of Patagonia
Obverse: Value, date below flanked by stars
Lettering: REPUBLICA ARGENTINA
50 PESOS
* 1979 *
Reverse: Man on horse, lance in right hand, facing left
Lettering: CENTENARIO DE LA CONQUISTA DEL DESIERTO
* 1879-1979 *
Translation: CENTENARY OF THE DESERT CONQUEST
* 1879-1979 *
Features
Issuer Argentina
Period Federal Republic (1861-date)
Type Circulating commemorative coin
Year 1979
Value 50 Pesos (50 ARL)
Currency Peso ley (1970-1983)
Composition Aluminium-bronze
Weight 7.6 g
Diameter 26.2 mm
Thickness 2 mm
Shape Round
Orientation Coin alignment ↑↓
Demonetized 03-30-1984
Number N# 5236
References KM# 84, CJ# 316
Wikipedia:
The Conquest of the Desert (Spanish: Conquista del desierto) was an Argentine military campaign directed mainly by General Julio Argentino Roca in the 1870s with the intention of establishing dominance over the Patagonian Desert, inhabited primarily by indigenous peoples. Under General Roca, the Conquest of the Desert extended Argentine power into Patagonia and ended the Chilean expansion there.
Argentine troops killed more than 1,000 Mapuche, displaced over 15,000 more from their traditional lands and enslaved a portion of the remaining natives. White settlers moved in and developed the lands through irrigation for agriculture, turning the territory into a breadbasket that made Argentina an agricultural superpower in the early 20th century. The conquest was paralleled by a similar campaign in Chile called the Pacification of Araucanía.
The Conquest is highly controversial. Apologists describe it as a civilising mission, while revisionists label it a genocide.
