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1 Peso José Martí Centennial Birth
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de Cuba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1953 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | Portrait of José Martí in intaglio at left, flanked at center by a vignette representing the allegory of the Montecristi Manifesto of 1895. The issuer name arcs across the top of the note, and a red circular seal of the Banco Nacional de Cuba is positioned between the portrait and the central vignette. Printed in black and blue with red serial numbers. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The Cuban coat of arms, engraved within an oval frame and set against a silhouette of the island of Cuba, occupies the center of the reverse. The country name appears at the top, with the face value expressed in both numerals and letters at each end. Commemorative dates marking the centenary of José Martí's birth — 28 January 1853 and 1953 — appear to the left of the coat of arms. |
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| Comments |
The 1953 Cuban 1 Peso (Pick 86) was issued specifically to mark the centennial of José Martí's birth — a politically loaded commission given the Batista government's complicated relationship with Martí's revolutionary image. Printing was handled by the American Bank Note Company in New York, the same firm that had produced Cuban currency for decades under successive very different regimes.
The centennial series was a prestige issue, and ABNCo's engraving standards show it. Circulation wear is common; Cuba's 1 Peso denomination moved through a lot of hands.