Catalog
Souvenir Peso Type III, Date closely spaced
| Issuer | Cuba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1897 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 22.5 g |
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| Obverse description | The Cuban coat of arms occupies the central field, depicting a shield divided into three sections: an upper section with a rising sun over a seascape and a golden key, a lower-left section with a blue-and-white striped ground, and a lower-right section with a royal palm tree. The shield is surmounted by a Phrygian cap on a pike and flanked by a wreath of oak on the left and laurel on the right, tied at the base. The circular legend REPUBLICA DE CUBA arcs across the upper portion of the coin, while the fineness marks 900 and FINO appear on the left and right sides respectively, each accompanied by small five-pointed stars. A row of five-pointed stars runs along the lower inner border. |
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
The Souvenir Pesos of 1897 were struck not by any Cuban authority but by Gorham Manufacturing Company in Providence, Rhode Island, as fundraising pieces for the Cuban independence movement then fighting Spain. Type III is distinguished by the closely spaced date numerals — a die characteristic that separates it from the wide-date variety and confirms a distinct die marriage, not a simple re-use.
Gorham produced these in small quantities for Cuban exile committees operating largely out of New York and Florida. The closely spaced date is the scarcer of the two configurations.