Catalog
50 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Español de la Habana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869-1879 |
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| Size | 205 × 135 mm |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black with yellow-gold underprint, the obverse carries a central vignette of a sailing ship entering Havana harbor with El Morro castle in the background, flanked by two seated allegorical female figures — one holding a cornucopia, the other a staff. Agricultural and industrial vignettes surround the central composition, including a tobacco plant, palm trees, a sugar mill with smokestacks, and cattle hauling a cart laden with sugar cane. Denomination numeral '50' appears in each corner, with the full text of the promise-to-pay legend across the center of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 50 EL BANCO ESPAÑOL DE LA HABANA á la presentación de este billete pagará al portador CINCUENTA pesos fuertes en efectivo. Habana, 11 de Octubre de 1869. (Translation: The Spanish Bank of Havana Upon presentation of this note, the bearer will be paid Fifty Pesos Fuertes in cash. Havana, October 11, 1869.) |
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| Comments |
The Banco Español de la Habana was the sole bank of issue in colonial Cuba throughout this period, operating under a Spanish royal charter while relying almost entirely on American printing technology. The American Bank Note Company produced the bulk of Cuban colonial currency during these decades — a commercially pragmatic arrangement that sat awkwardly alongside Spain's political insistence on sovereignty over the island.
The late 1860s and 1870s were anything but stable in Cuba. The Ten Years' War (1868–1878) created severe fiscal pressure on colonial finances, and notes of this series circulated under conditions of open rebellion in the eastern provinces. That historical friction is probably why surviving examples from the earlier part of this date range are harder to locate than the nominal print run would suggest.