Catalog
25 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Español de la Habana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869-1975 |
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| Currency | Pre-Republic (1870-1898) |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black and blue, the obverse carries a richly composed central vignette of a sailing ship entering Havana harbor before the Morro Castle, flanked by two seated allegorical female figures, one holding a cornucopia and the other a staff. Surrounding vignettes include a tobacco plant, palm trees, a sugar mill with smokestacks, and oxen hauling a cart laden with sugar cane, all executed in the fine intaglio style characteristic of American Bank Note Company production. Denomination panels reading '25' appear at corners, with the full text of the bearer obligation in Spanish across the note face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 25 EL BANCO ESPAÑOL DE LA HABANA á la presentación de este billete pagará al portador VEINTE Y CINCO pesos fuertes en efectivo. Habana, 14 de Agosto de 1869. (Translation: The Spanish Bank of Havana Upon presentation of this note, the bearer will be paid Twenty-Five Pesos Fuertes in cash. Havana, August 14, 1869.) |
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| Comments |
The Banco Español de la Habana occupied an awkward position: a Spanish colonial institution issuing currency on an island increasingly consumed by separatist war. The Ten Years' War began in 1868, and notes circulating through this period did so against a backdrop of insurgency, capital flight, and a colonial administration struggling to maintain financial credibility in a territory it was visibly losing its grip on.
ABNC's involvement was typical for Latin American issuers of the period who wanted engraved security printing beyond what Spanish printers could reliably produce. The New York origin of the plates is worth noting given that U.S. commercial interests in Cuba were already significant by the 1870s.