patacon
/ˈpatəkɒn/(also patagon, patacoon)
noun
1Any of various silver coins current in Portuguese and Spanish territories from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Now historical.
2A monetary unit of the province of Buenos Aires in Argentina, being a government bond with a face value of one peso.
- The patacon was introduced in 2001 as a way of paying local workers without incurring further government debt..
Origin
Late 16th century. Apparently originally from Portuguese patacon, patacão from pataca + -on. In later use also from Spanish patacón and perhaps other Romance languages: compare Spanish patacón, Catalan patacó, Middle French patacon (French patagon), Italian pataccone, patachina.