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25 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Español de la Habana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1889 (1872-1891) |
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| Currency | Pre-Republic (1870-1898) |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black, green, and red, the obverse carries a central vignette of Mercury holding his caduceus, flanked by palm trees, sailing ships, and an anchor as symbols of commerce. Denomination panels and ornate guilloche underprint frame the composition. The text block bears the issuing bank's name, the promise-to-pay legend, and the manuscript date of 18 February 1889. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 25 EL BANCO ESPAÑOL DE LA HABANA á la presentación de este billete pagará al portador VEINTE Y CINCO pesos fuertes en efectivo. Habana, 18 de Fbro 1889 (Translation: The Spanish Bank of Havana Upon presentation of this note, the bearer will be paid Twenty Five Pesos fuertes in cash. Havana, February 18, 1889.) |
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| Comments |
Banco Español de la Habana occupied a peculiar institutional position — chartered in 1856 under Spanish colonial authority, it held a monopoly on note issue in Cuba while simultaneously acting as the colonial treasury's primary financing mechanism. By 1889, that relationship had become strained: the bank was carrying substantial Cuban public debt on its books, much of it accumulated through Spain's military expenditures suppressing the Ten Years' War, which had ended a decade earlier but left lasting fiscal damage.
Bradbury Wilkinson supplied the printed sheets from their London works across the entire 1872–1891 run of this series, with dates and serial numbers completed locally in Havana. The bank collapsed in 1898 following Cuban independence, leaving large quantities of its notes unredeemed.