1 Peso Cuban Crocodile

Cuba's wildlife commemorative program of the late 1970s and early 1980s was partly a hard-currency initiative — these coins were struck for export sale to foreign collectors rather than domestic circulation, generating convertible currency the Cuban economy badly needed. The Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer), one of the world's most critically endangered crocodilian species, was already confined almost entirely to the Zapata Swamp by this point, its range having collapsed under decades of hunting and habitat pressure.

Collector demand for the series was modest, and unsold inventory was eventually repatriated, meaning many surviving examples show no circulation wear while still exhibiting storage marks from bulk handling.