At 15 years of age Sr. Roca began his military career of over two decades which culminated with the rank of Lieutenant General. He prepared and directed the campaign of the Conquest of the Desert (1875-1879) that significantly contributed to the expansion between the interior of the country and the Province of Buenos Aires.

His candidacy to the Presidency of the Nation unchained the conflict whose outcome would be the nationalization of the city of Buenos Aires. The city being converted to the Federal Capital, the prolonged face off between the interior and the Province of Buenos Aires was closed.

His first governmental step, expressed in the slogan "Peace and Administration," had several aims: Law No. 1420 of common education; border treaties with Chile and Brazil; affirmation of Argentine rights on the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); the Law of National Territory; creation of a single monetary standard; sanction of the Procedure Codes; expansion of the railroad network, roads, telegraph lines; modernization of the army; construction of schools; and immigration growth. The first big scale industries began during this time.

In 1898 a new presidential order was instituted and signed that included achievements such as: negotiations with Chile; application of the "Drago Doctrine" and its incorporation to International American Laws; the creation of national teaching industrial schools in agriculture and agronomy; the increase of rail lines, the construction of seaports, the National Congress, and the Court Palace; the distribution of land; monetary consolidation and stability; the creation of the National office of Retirement and Pensions; and much more.

The face contains a replica of the letter from Roca to Miguel Cane, at the time the ambassador to Austria (January 20, 1885). Also, one appreciates an evocation of Argentine progress lighted by the sun of the future. The accelerated expansion of the country united with the efficient actions of the state is transmitted to the verses of the National Anthem: "a new and glorious nation is born on the face of the earth." The portrait "The Conquest of the Desert" or "The Inspection of the Rio Negro" by the Uruguayan painter Juan M. Blanes (1830-1901) shows General Roca at his highest point reviewing the troops.

The biographical syntheses of the hero is visualized in miniletters; some manuscript sheets; the saber and a branch of laurel commemorate the ruler and the man of arms; the value and two-color numbers are formed by the repetition of the letters BCRA. The impressions are engraved except those at the bottom which include the outline of a horse and a lance, the repeated numerical value at regular intervals, and geometrical motifs.