Catalog
25 Centavos Countermarked
| Issuer | Cuba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1872-1877 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse description | Host coin obverse featuring the Mexican Phrygian cap of Liberty radiating rays, with the legend LIBERTAD inscribed above a pair of scales; a paper scroll bearing the word LEY flanked by a sword appears between the scale pans. The curved legend below records the face value and fineness. A Cuban Key countermark was applied to authorize the coin for circulation, validating its use in Cuba during the 1872–1877 period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Between 1872 and 1877, the Spanish colonial administration in Cuba authorized the countermarking of existing silver coinage to validate and recirculate pieces already in use on the island — a response to chronic shortages of properly denominated currency that plagued the colony throughout the Ten Years' War. The conflict, which began in 1868 as Cuba's first major independence uprising, severely disrupted normal commerce and trade flows.
KM#R4.1 specifically designates the countermark applied to host coins of identifiable type; the host itself was frequently a Spanish 2 Reales or similar peninsular silver. The countermark's presence was the legal instrument, not the host coin's original authority.