ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the complementary currency (CC), bocade, issued by the Argentinian province of Tucuman between 1985 and 2003. It examines when, where and why this currency was issued, how it functioned initially and how it evolved and provides an evaluation of the bocade's economic efficiency and political viability. Tucuman is at the heart of the peripheral region of North West Argentina (NOA) where issuances of provincial money have been directly linked to regionalist and federalist stakes. The Tucuman bocade has been an exemplary manifestation of monetary federalism, and it is important to underpin this point. The federalist feelings of the Tucuman government echoed in the political pro-bocade attitude of the provincial business community. Through historical analysis, the chapter helps the reader to understand how the same provincial CC has been able to function in the framework of monetary regimes as different as those of the austral, the dollarised and the nationalised pesos.
