10 Pesos

The Banco Español de la Habana was established by royal decree in 1856 as the sole bank of issue for Cuba, then still a Spanish colony, and operated under persistent tension between Madrid's fiscal demands and the realities of a colonial economy dependent on sugar revenues and enslaved labor. Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement reflects the standard metropolitan practice of contracting London security printers for colonial currency — the plates never left England, and notes were shipped in bulk to Havana for issue.

The 1872–1892 dating range for P#20 reflects reissue across a politically unstable period that included the Ten Years' War's aftermath and the buildup to the final Cuban independence struggle. Notes from this series frequently show heavy tropical wear; Cuba's humid climate was particularly destructive to paper currency in active circulation.