Cuba's revolutionary commemorative series of the late 1990s was produced substantially for the export collector market rather than domestic circulation — the peso's real purchasing power had collapsed so severely during the Special Period following Soviet subsidy cuts that copper-nickel coins of this size rarely moved through ordinary Cuban hands. The 40th anniversary issue appeared the same year the government was still rationing basic foodstuffs under the libreta system.
Cuba's revolutionary commemorative series of the late 1990s was produced substantially for the export collector market rather than domestic circulation — the peso's real purchasing power had collapsed so severely during the Special Period following Soviet subsidy cuts that copper-nickel coins of this size rarely moved through ordinary Cuban hands. The 40th anniversary issue appeared the same year the government was still rationing basic foodstuffs under the libreta system.