1 Peso Giant Gar Fish

Cuba's FAO-linked commemorative program of the late 1970s and early 1980s produced a run of coins tied to food and conservation themes, issued partly to satisfy international collector markets rather than domestic circulation — the peso had essentially no purchasing power context for foreign coin buyers, and the Cuban state knew it. The giant gar (Atractosteus tristoechus), endemic to Cuban rivers and the Isla de la Juventud, was already under serious pressure from habitat loss and overfishing by 1981.

The FAO connection gave Havana a politically neutral vehicle for hard-currency export sales during a period of acute foreign exchange shortage.