50 Pesos Christopher Columbus

Cuba's gold commemorative program of the late 1980s and early 1990s was largely designed for export — hard currency generation for a government increasingly isolated following the Soviet bloc's collapse. These pieces circulated almost nowhere on the island itself, sold instead through foreign dealers and at international coin fairs while ordinary Cubans were legally prohibited from possessing gold coins.

The Columbus issues of 1990 anticipate the 1992 quincentennial of his first voyage, a commemoration that Cuba joined despite the broader Latin American debate over whether the arrival deserved celebration at all.