10 Pesos Bee Hummingbird

Cuba's wildlife coin program of the 1990s was produced primarily for the collector export market, generating hard currency at a time when the U.S. embargo and the collapse of Soviet subsidies had gutted the island's foreign exchange reserves. The Bee Hummingbird — Mellisuga helenae — is endemic to Cuba and holds the distinction of being the smallest living bird species by mass, typically under two grams.

KM#661 is one of several fauna issues from this series sharing the same planchet specification, all struck at the Casa de Moneda under contract arrangements common to small-nation commemorative programs of that decade.