When Lewis the Lion arrived in Argentina, this was the third currency he had to contend with – the Argentine Peso. However, after getting used to Brazilian Reais it was almost double that amount to get the conversion back to pounds and pence!
Lewis looks at the Argentine notes from the front
Nonetheless, that could get confusing so Lewis the Lion sat down and made a sensible conversion chart so he knew what he was spending.
Roughly, he knew that 1 Argentine Peso ($AR) was worth nearly 14 pence. That means that $AR 10 was worth £1.40 and $AR 100 was worth £14.00 respectively. There were also 100 centavos in 1 peso (normally in 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 piece coins).
As you can see from the pictures of Lewis the Lion with the main denominations of Argentine Peso notes, on one side they show important Argentine historical figures and on the back they show important places in Argentina, e.g. Plaza de Mayo on the 10 pesos note.
Argentine notes have the figureheads of important Argentines
Argentine notes from the back
Lewis the Lion also noticed that a lot of the notes flying around seemed quite old and many of them had been torn or sellotaped together in places. People in shops had marker pens to check whether notes were genuine or not. It seemed that wherever Lewis the Lion had travelled to, you always had to be careful about receiving fake notes, unfortunately.
Here are some of the prices that Lewis paid for things in Argentina.
*A ticket to ride on a public bus – $AR 1,25
*A ticket on the subte metro – $AR 1,50
*A plain tomato and mozzerella pizza to take away – $AR 20
*A big mixed salad to take away – $AR 28
*A can of a fizzy drink – $AR 12
*A stamp for a postcard to Europe – $AR 9,50
*A birthday card – $AR 9,90
*An entrance on half price day to the modern art gallery – $AR 12
*A ticket to a Boca Juniors football match (with bus transfers and food) – $AR 630
*A coach ticket from Buenos Aires to Neuquén (a 15 hour coach ride) – $AR 516
Can you convert these prices into pound sterling? Do you think Argentina is cheaper or more expensive than in the UK?
