100 Pesos Carlos Manuel de Céspedes-Trial Strike

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes freed his slaves and launched the Ten Years' War on October 10, 1868 — an act that made him the founding figure of Cuban independence long before the revolution that eventually put his face on currency. This 1977 copper trial strike was produced during a period when Cuba's mint was actively developing its hard-currency collector series, testing flans and dies before committing to precious metal production. The JMA reference placing it as PPV1 suggests it sits at the very beginning of that proof documentation sequence.

No regular copper issue of this denomination was released for circulation — the metal itself signals its purpose as a test piece rather than a proposed circulating coin.