50 Pesos Saint George Palace

The Saint George Palace — Palacio de los Capitanes Generales in Havana — served as the seat of Spanish colonial government in Cuba from its completion in 1791 until the end of Spanish rule in 1898, after which it briefly housed the first U.S. military governor before becoming Havana's city hall. The 1992 Cuban silver program that produced this piece was issued during the "Special Period," the economic crisis triggered by the Soviet collapse, when the Cuban government was simultaneously rationing food domestically and striking five-ounce collector coins for hard currency export.