1 Peso

The Banco Español de la Habana was the sole authorized bank of issue in Cuba during the colonial period, operating under a royal charter that gave it a near-monopoly on credit on the island. This note falls within the years of the Ten Years' War's aftermath and the subsequent Chica War — chronic instability that repeatedly undermined confidence in paper instruments issued from Havana. The bank's notes circulated uneasily alongside Spanish treasury obligations, and redemption in specie was more promise than practice for much of this period.

The National Bank Note Company, which printed this series, ceased independent operations in 1879 when it merged into the American Bank Note Company — meaning later dates in the 1872–1883 range were almost certainly fulfilled by the successor firm using inherited plates.