1 Peso Don Quixote and the Windmills

Cuba issued a long-running series of commemorative copper-nickel pesos throughout the 1970s and 1980s, many targeting the international collector market rather than domestic circulation — hard currency was scarce on the island, and coins like this one were sold abroad through state export agencies to generate foreign exchange. The Don Quixote theme reflects Cuba's cultural alignment with Spain, a relationship that deepened considerably after 1975 as Madrid became one of the first Western capitals to maintain normal diplomatic ties with Havana following the Franco years.

Cervantes published the second part of Don Quixote in 1615, making 1982 no particular anniversary of note. The choice of subject was almost certainly aesthetic rather than commemorative.