World coins chat: Cuba

Unlike other Latin American countries, Cuba remained a Spanish posession during the 19th century and as such used Spanish and Spanish Colonial Reales as its currency. In 1869, banknotes of the Peso worth 8 Reales were introduced specifically for Cuba. A bit later, this Peso was pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar.

Cuba gained independence as a result of Spanish defeat during the Spanish American War of 1898, which was itself a result of an indepence war that started in 1895 after two earlier attempts in the late 19th century. Full official indepence was achieved in 1902.

The first Cuban coinage was minted in the USA and started in 1915, with nice designs featuring a star. The Peso coin is a nice large silver coin which is relatively affordable. Gold coins were also produced in denominations of 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and 20 pesos, which have nice designs but are only collectible for the wealthiest collectors.

The Cuban Revolution of 1958-1960 was a big blow in Cuban-American relations, and Cuba pegged its Peso to the Soviet Ruble (no idea at which rate though). Honouring a communist tradition, Cuba started using aluminium for its coins. Currently, there are around 25 Pesos to the US Dollar, and coins of 1, 2, 5, 20 centavos and 1&3 pesos circulate. A denomination of 3 is yet another communist tradition. The coin depicts Che Guevara, a very famous revolutionary and example for young leftists, but if they would read more about him I wonder if they would still romanticise him as much.

Cuba is a special monetary case as it maintains 2 currencies, with the 'hard' Convertible Peso next to the ordinary Peso. Basic goods can be bought in Pesos, but luxuries can only be bought in CUC, which is pegged 1:1 to the dollar. Since 1981, coins have been issued with Instituto Nacional de Turismo (INTUR) that had the same function as CUC, but the Convertible Peso was only officially introduced in 1994, after which the coins did not read INTUR anymore. I find all of these issues pretty ugly but from a monetary perspective they are interesting.

There are also loads of commemorative coins from Cuba, but I don't know much about them.

I could imagine that US collectors are not allowed to own Cuban coins. For Europeans there are no restrictions, and perhaps some of them are even a good investment if the newest diplomatic developments gain momentum.

Your history about the Cuba double coin system remember me there are similar cases with banknotes... Or we should more say "Exchange certificates", as I've got one of them.

Cuban coins cannot be listed on eBay because that website is headquartered in the USA and has an extreme "obey all sanctions" policy. North Korea and Iran are similarly blacklisted. Look for coins from "(uba" or "Uba".

Canada has never imposed sanctions on Cuba and the two countries have remained quite friendly so Cuba has always been a popular vacation spot for Canadians (because what other country is guaranteed to be free of American tourists?). As a result it is quite easy to find modern Cuban coins in Canada, especially the tourist issues. I would recommend that any Canadian collector buy as many of these as they can find because when Americans can legally own Cuban coins the prices will jump.

Cuban convertible peso, "INTUR" (the state-owned National Institute of Tourism) series:



Cuban convertible peso, newer series:



Here are some coins of the Cuban peso from before the Revolution. These should be legal to list on eBay but for some reason they aren't


The Cuban star is one of my favourite coin designs - simple and effective.

In 1953, all denominations had commemorative designs to celebrate the 100th birthday of Cuban hero Jose Marti.


The modern low-value coins of communist Cuba are nothing special.


But the older and higher-value issues are more interesting.



And finally, here's El Che. If only I could get some kind of T-shirt with this design on it...


Oh, I also have two Cuban banknotes.

More Che. This note is basically just a souvenir.


One convertible peso.

I love the intur coins.

First off, I am pretty sure you can own Cuban coins in the US, you just cant buy and sell Cuban stuff, but I also thought they just dropped the Embargo?

When I was in Cuba in 2000 I was in Havana and there was a sea wall with craggy rock that the waves crashed into, I was surprised to find NO ONE AT ALL at the sea, I had the place to myself. Kinda strange but very nice, any way, I was just looking around in the rock for whatever sea life there might be and I started finding coins, naturally I spent a long time looking for these little coins and 5 or 6 kids came up to the seawall and started laughing at me and asking if I was looking for Spanish silver. Well it was just the cheap aluminum coins but I was still pretty stoked.

 Its a beautiful place

Quote: nalaberongThe modern low-value coins of communist Cuba are nothing special.

Oh also I did find some sea life down on that rock, Portuguese man of war blown into shore, and me being naturally curious about everything including stinging creatures I let it sting me, just a little, I can't imagine getting all tangled up in one in the surf.

I've been reading some WCC topics that I haven't read yet and I found this one.

I want to clarify - eBay goes above and beyond U.S. law. Owning all Cuban coins is and has always been legal. I even have a few in my collection, although they are Convertable Pesos given to me by my Canadian relatives.

About that it is always has been possible for Americans to go to Cuba (via Canada or Mexico though), you just need to ask for a visa on a piece of paper instead of in your passport. It also has technically never been illegal, you just couldn't spend more than $100 there (pretty hard considering the flight price). And of course Obama partially lifted the embargo so now you can go to Cuba for certain purposes (tourism isn't one of them though!).

"I could imagine that US collectors are not allowed to own Cuban coins." U.S. residents can own Cuban coins. No issues I know of yet. And now that relations between Cuba and the U.S. are normalized, we might see a lot more Cuban coins.

I have been looking for a nice Cuban coin to upgrade my collection, but I just haven't been able to find the right one.      

I see Cuban coins being sold on EBay all the time. Sellers just list Cuba (as well as Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria) as "world coin, you id", so if anyone complains, they have "reasonable deniability".

Here is an example from today's listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-North-American-Island-Coin-Lot-1915-1971-Hard-to-Find-Lot-730-/151763177418?hash=item2355ca4fca

You can also find them at most US coin shows and no one makes a fuss about it.

I've 1 coin from the 1st Republic (pre-Revolution), 5 from the 2nd Republic (post-Revolution), 1 from the Intur series, and a couple from the convertible Peso series.

Quite a few of the old lattice countermarked coins from 19th century Cuba seem to turn up in the UK as there was once a thriving trade in copper ore from Cuba to Swansea in South Wales and I presume that sailors brought them back as souvenirs.

I think is dumbfounded that ebay denies the sales of any cuban coins, when in fact pre 1961 era of coins were made in the Philadelphia mint (Usa)I collect cuban coins, if anyone has nay send me a private message. Only pre 1961 please.​​​​​​​Ebay its the only place that bans from selling them, you can buy them from any place in the USA or auction house in the USA.​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​

Quote: "andyo4you"​I think is dumbfounded that ebay denies the sales of any cuban coins, when in fact pre 1961 era of coins were made in the Philadelphia mint (Usa)I collect cuban coins, if anyone has nay send me a private message. Only pre 1961 please.​​​​​​​Ebay its the only place that bans from selling them, you can buy them from any place in the USA or auction house in the USA.​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​

​you just can't use the word "cuba". there are many cuban coins on there.
for example search for
40 centavos (1915,1916,1920,1932,1948,1949,1952) -mexico -mexican -mexicanos -argentina -angola -chile -portugal

Pretty rich that Cuba pegs currency to the USD.

Quote: "userchap"​Pretty rich that Cuba pegs currency to the USD.

​Bold to assume many other countries don't also peg their currencies to the USD and also ignorante to not know that is just for Convertible Pesos that the tourists must (or rather should) use and not the local pesos that the locals actually use (which isn't pegged to the USD)

jokinenUnlike other Latin American countries, Cuba remained a Spanish posession during the 19th century and as such used Spanish and Spanish Colonial Reales as its currency. In 1869, banknotes of the Peso worth 8 Reales were introduced specifically for Cuba. A bit later, this Peso was pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar.

Cuba gained independence as a result of Spanish defeat during the Spanish American War of 1898, which was itself a result of an indepence war that started in 1895 after two earlier attempts in the late 19th century. Full official indepence was achieved in 1902.

The first Cuban coinage was minted in the USA and started in 1915, with nice designs featuring a star. The Peso coin is a nice large silver coin which is relatively affordable. Gold coins were also produced in denominations of 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and 20 pesos, which have nice designs but are only collectible for the wealthiest collectors.

The Cuban Revolution of 1958-1960 was a big blow in Cuban-American relations, and Cuba pegged its Peso to the Soviet Ruble (no idea at which rate though). Honouring a communist tradition, Cuba started using aluminium for its coins. Currently, there are around 25 Pesos to the US Dollar, and coins of 1, 2, 5, 20 centavos and 1&3 pesos circulate. A denomination of 3 is yet another communist tradition. The coin depicts Che Guevara, a very famous revolutionary and example for young leftists, but if they would read more about him I wonder if they would still romanticise him as much.

Cuba is a special monetary case as it maintains 2 currencies, with the 'hard' Convertible Peso next to the ordinary Peso. Basic goods can be bought in Pesos, but luxuries can only be bought in CUC, which is pegged 1:1 to the dollar. Since 1981, coins have been issued with Instituto Nacional de Turismo (INTUR) that had the same function as CUC, but the Convertible Peso was only officially introduced in 1994, after which the coins did not read INTUR anymore. I find all of these issues pretty ugly but from a monetary perspective they are interesting.

There are also loads of commemorative coins from Cuba, but I don't know much about them.

I could imagine that US collectors are not allowed to own Cuban coins. For Europeans there are no restrictions, and perhaps some of them are even a good investment if the newest diplomatic developments gain momentum.

When I learned what Che Guevara did, I liked him MORE.

AllahSyriaBashar

jokinenUnlike other Latin American countries, Cuba remained a Spanish posession during the 19th century and as such used Spanish and Spanish Colonial Reales as its currency. In 1869, banknotes of the Peso worth 8 Reales were introduced specifically for Cuba. A bit later, this Peso was pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar.

Cuba gained independence as a result of Spanish defeat during the Spanish American War of 1898, which was itself a result of an indepence war that started in 1895 after two earlier attempts in the late 19th century. Full official indepence was achieved in 1902.

The first Cuban coinage was minted in the USA and started in 1915, with nice designs featuring a star. The Peso coin is a nice large silver coin which is relatively affordable. Gold coins were also produced in denominations of 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and 20 pesos, which have nice designs but are only collectible for the wealthiest collectors.

The Cuban Revolution of 1958-1960 was a big blow in Cuban-American relations, and Cuba pegged its Peso to the Soviet Ruble (no idea at which rate though). Honouring a communist tradition, Cuba started using aluminium for its coins. Currently, there are around 25 Pesos to the US Dollar, and coins of 1, 2, 5, 20 centavos and 1&3 pesos circulate. A denomination of 3 is yet another communist tradition. The coin depicts Che Guevara, a very famous revolutionary and example for young leftists, but if they would read more about him I wonder if they would still romanticise him as much.

Cuba is a special monetary case as it maintains 2 currencies, with the 'hard' Convertible Peso next to the ordinary Peso. Basic goods can be bought in Pesos, but luxuries can only be bought in CUC, which is pegged 1:1 to the dollar. Since 1981, coins have been issued with Instituto Nacional de Turismo (INTUR) that had the same function as CUC, but the Convertible Peso was only officially introduced in 1994, after which the coins did not read INTUR anymore. I find all of these issues pretty ugly but from a monetary perspective they are interesting.

There are also loads of commemorative coins from Cuba, but I don't know much about them.

I could imagine that US collectors are not allowed to own Cuban coins. For Europeans there are no restrictions, and perhaps some of them are even a good investment if the newest diplomatic developments gain momentum.

When I learned what Che Guevara did, I liked him MORE.

What is that supposed to mean? 

FlyingRedPanda

AllahSyriaBashar

jokinenUnlike other Latin American countries, Cuba remained a Spanish posession during the 19th century and as such used Spanish and Spanish Colonial Reales as its currency. In 1869, banknotes of the Peso worth 8 Reales were introduced specifically for Cuba. A bit later, this Peso was pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar.

Cuba gained independence as a result of Spanish defeat during the Spanish American War of 1898, which was itself a result of an indepence war that started in 1895 after two earlier attempts in the late 19th century. Full official indepence was achieved in 1902.

The first Cuban coinage was minted in the USA and started in 1915, with nice designs featuring a star. The Peso coin is a nice large silver coin which is relatively affordable. Gold coins were also produced in denominations of 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and 20 pesos, which have nice designs but are only collectible for the wealthiest collectors.

The Cuban Revolution of 1958-1960 was a big blow in Cuban-American relations, and Cuba pegged its Peso to the Soviet Ruble (no idea at which rate though). Honouring a communist tradition, Cuba started using aluminium for its coins. Currently, there are around 25 Pesos to the US Dollar, and coins of 1, 2, 5, 20 centavos and 1&3 pesos circulate. A denomination of 3 is yet another communist tradition. The coin depicts Che Guevara, a very famous revolutionary and example for young leftists, but if they would read more about him I wonder if they would still romanticise him as much.

Cuba is a special monetary case as it maintains 2 currencies, with the 'hard' Convertible Peso next to the ordinary Peso. Basic goods can be bought in Pesos, but luxuries can only be bought in CUC, which is pegged 1:1 to the dollar. Since 1981, coins have been issued with Instituto Nacional de Turismo (INTUR) that had the same function as CUC, but the Convertible Peso was only officially introduced in 1994, after which the coins did not read INTUR anymore. I find all of these issues pretty ugly but from a monetary perspective they are interesting.

There are also loads of commemorative coins from Cuba, but I don't know much about them.

I could imagine that US collectors are not allowed to own Cuban coins. For Europeans there are no restrictions, and perhaps some of them are even a good investment if the newest diplomatic developments gain momentum.

When I learned what Che Guevara did, I liked him MORE.

What is that supposed to mean? 

I was taking a snipe at the previous poster who took a snipe at El Che. He said if people actually knew anything about him they wouldn't like him. This is untrue, and it comes out of the old Anti-Che cold war era slander, most if not all of which is baseless lies. 

Che Guevara was and is a hero. I am kind of off topic though, so i'll add a note. I did see that coin on ebay not so long ago.

I saw this thread resurface recently and thought I should add the following note of interest to collectors of Cuban coins.

 

In the latest American Journal of Numismatics (AJN 2024), the last paper is a very short piece (pp. 517–524) on the star relief on Cuban coins:

 

 

Here are the coins in question in the Numista catalogue. In the first page of the paper you see in the photo, there is what I consider quite a major blunder in a numismatic journal — something on which the Numista catalogue is right. Can you spot it?

 

Papers in the AJN are refereed by two external readers. It's surprising that neither pointed out this blunder. As an author, it's the kind of thing you're happy to be told and to fix before publication!

 

More importantly, the author publishes a new source that finally provides an explanation for the existence of the two variants: high vs. low relief stars.

I suppose you mean the obverse defined as containing the name and symbol of the country..?

Yes — a very clear case of inverting obverse / reverse.

 

EDIT — I see that the paper was added to the Numista library: Roberto Menchaca – Cuban Coins' Star Relief