Catalog
5 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Español de la Habana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1870-1876 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black with a red-orange underprint, the obverse centres on a large vignette of a sailing vessel entering Havana harbour with Morro Castle visible in the background, flanked by two seated allegorical figures — one bearing a cornucopia, the other a staff — against a landscape incorporating palm trees, a tobacco plant, a sugar mill with smokestacks, and cattle drawing a cane-laden cart. Denomination numeral "5" occupies each corner, while the issuer's title and payment obligation text are rendered in letterpress across the upper and lower registers. The note carries a manuscript date of Havana, 10 de Junio de 1876. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5 EL BANCO ESPAÑOL DE LA HABANA á la presentación de este billete pagará al portador CINCO pesos fuertes en efectivo. Habana, 10 de Junio de 1876. (Translation: The Spanish Bank of Havana Upon presentation of this note, the bearer will be paid Five Pesos Fuertes in cash. Havana, June 10, 1876.) |
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| Comments |
The Banco Español de la Habana occupied an unusual position: a privately chartered Spanish colonial bank operating on a Caribbean island in the middle of an armed insurgency. The Ten Years' War (1868–1878) created precisely the kind of fiscal instability that pushed colonial authorities to lean harder on paper currency, and notes of this series circulated under conditions of genuine economic stress.
The American Bank Note Company contract is worth noting — Spanish colonial administrations frequently turned to New York engravers rather than peninsular printers, a pragmatic choice driven by ABNC's security printing capabilities rather than any ideological preference.