46  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

change  basis,  the  gold  peso  being  worth  one
hundred  centavos,  or  in  our  money  96.5  cents.
The  gold  peso  is  designated  by  the  sign  $C/L,
the  symbol  C/L  meaning  curso  legal,  or  legal
tender.  This  is  practically  an  imaginary
coin,  and  the  money  one  sees  is  paper  currency,
the  paper  peso  being  worth  44  per  cent,  of  its
face  value,  or  42.46  cents  in  United  States
gold.  This  is  represented  in  the  following
manner  $M/N,  meaning  moneda  nacional  or
national  money.  This  paper  currency  fluctuates ­
  slightly  each  day,  being  governed  by  the
market  conditions.  The  abbreviations  O/S,
C/L,  and  M/N  are  placed  before  the  dollar
or  peso  mark,  as  for  example  O/S  $500  or
may  follow  it,  as,  for  instance,  $500  M/N.
The  Argentine  has  long  been  noted  for  its
unfavorable  fees  charged  travellers,  each
province  having  a  separate  tariff,  varying  according ­
  to  the  commodity  one  may  be  selling.
They  are  subject  to  such  changes  on  short
notice  that  it  is  useless  to  give  them  here,  besides ­
  the  subject  has  been  dealt  with  elsewhere ­
  in  this  book.  Before  doing  business  it