Part of Cuba's long-running wildlife conservation series, this issue was produced during the "Special Period" — the severe economic contraction that followed the Soviet Union's collapse and the abrupt end of its subsidies to Havana. Domestic nickel production, one of Cuba's few hard-currency earners, ironically supplied the material for coins that almost no Cuban could spend on anything meaningful.
The Tody, endemic to the Caribbean, appears across several Cuban commemorative issues from this decade. KM#551 is the circulation-strike version; a proof issue in silver was produced concurrently for the export collector market.
Part of Cuba's long-running wildlife conservation series, this issue was produced during the "Special Period" — the severe economic contraction that followed the Soviet Union's collapse and the abrupt end of its subsidies to Havana. Domestic nickel production, one of Cuba's few hard-currency earners, ironically supplied the material for coins that almost no Cuban could spend on anything meaningful.
The Tody, endemic to the Caribbean, appears across several Cuban commemorative issues from this decade. KM#551 is the circulation-strike version; a proof issue in silver was produced concurrently for the export collector market.