Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | Banco Central de Cuba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1993 |
| Type | Non-circulating coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a dynamic equestrian figure of Saint James (Santiago Matamoros) in high relief, depicted as a armored warrior astride a rearing horse, his cloak billowing behind him and a raised sword in his right hand. Beneath the horse's hooves lies a stylized map of Cuba with the date '1993' inscribed within the exergual area. A scallop shell, the traditional pilgrim's symbol of Saint James, appears to the right of the central design. The circumferential legend reads '478 ANIV. FUNDACION STGO de CUBA' along the upper arc and 'MILENIVM SANCTI · IACOBI' along the lower arc, all within a rope-beaded border. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Cuba's hard-currency collector coinage of the early 1990s was a direct product of the "Special Period" — the severe economic contraction that followed the Soviet Union's collapse and the near-total loss of Soviet subsidies that had propped up the Cuban economy for three decades. The government, desperately short of convertible foreign exchange, aggressively expanded its numismatic export program as one of the few mechanisms available to earn hard currency without dismantling socialist economic structures.
The Santiago de Compostela subject places this coin within a broader series targeting the Spanish collector market ahead of the 1993 Holy Year pilgrimage commemorations.