10 Pesos Dolphins

Cuba's hard-currency commemorative program of the 1990s was a direct product of the "Special Period" — the economic crisis triggered by the Soviet collapse that left the island without its primary trade subsidies. Havana aggressively pursued foreign exchange through collector coin sales, contracting with overseas mints and marketing heavily to European and North American numismatic dealers who could not legally sell them to U.S. buyers under the embargo.

The colorization on this issue was applied post-strike, a technique increasingly common in the early 1990s as mints competed for the novelty-driven collector market.