Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Pesos Mary Read
| Issuer | Cuba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1995 |
| Type | Non-circulating coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The central field bears a colorized inset depicting a romanticized bust portrait of Mary Read, the historical female pirate, shown facing slightly left with flowing blonde hair beneath a white tricorn hat, wearing a blue coat with a red neckerchief, set against a maritime background with a sailing vessel. The subject's name MARY READ appears as an inscription within the upper portion of the colored inset. The series legend PIRATAS DEL CARIBE arcs along the upper border of the dark proof field, flanked by a five-pointed star at each lower corner, with the issue date 1995 inscribed in the exergue below. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Mary Read was an English pirate who operated in the Caribbean in the early 18th century, typically disguised as a man. She sailed under Calico Jack Rackham and was captured by Jamaican authorities in 1720. At her trial, she and Anne Bonny famously pleaded pregnancy to delay execution — Read died in prison shortly after, likely of fever, before any sentence could be carried out.
Cuba's decision to issue gold coinage honoring Golden Age pirates reflects the broader commemorative program the island ran through the 1990s targeting foreign collector markets for hard currency. The KM#493 attribution places this firmly within that series.