Catalog
1 Peso Civic Square
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de Cuba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1956-1958 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | 4 August 1961 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | REPUBLICA DE CUBA 1 1 UN PESO UN PESO 1 1 ESTE BILLETE TIENE CURSO LEGAL Y FUERZA LIBERATORIA ILIMITADA, DE ACUERDO CON LA LEY, PARA EL PAGO DE TODA OBLIGACIÓN CONTRAÍDA O A CUMPLIR EN EL TERRITORIO NACIONAL. (Translation: Republic of Cuba 1 1 One Peso One Peso 1 1 This note is legal tender and has unlimited liberatory force, in accordance with the law, for payment of all obligations, contracted or to be fulfilled, on the whole national territory.) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | José Martí portrait watermark, visible when held to light. |
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| Comments |
Cuba's 1 Peso series of the mid-1950s straddles an uncomfortable historical seam. Batista had consolidated power by 1954, and the Banco Nacional — established only in 1950, replacing the U.S. Federal Reserve as the island's monetary authority — was still a young institution issuing notes under a regime whose days were already numbered. By the time the last dates in this run were printed, the Sierra Maestra campaign was well underway.
Thomas De La Rue's involvement is worth noting: the firm held Cuba's banknote contracts through the Batista period, a relationship that ended abruptly after 1959. Post-revolution issues moved to other printers entirely.