1 Peso Che Guevara

Cuba has issued commemorative peso coinage featuring Che Guevara across multiple series, but the 2003 issues cataloged under KM#857 and KM#858 were part of a broader run of collector-targeted pieces produced during the Special Period's long economic tail — the years after Soviet subsidies collapsed and the Cuban economy contracted by roughly 35%. Hard currency was desperately needed, and commemorative coins sold abroad were one mechanism for generating it. The coins were never intended for domestic circulation.