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300 Pesos Spanish Administration
| Issuer | Banco Español de la Habana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1857-1859 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Bradbury Wilkinson and Company, United Kingdom (1856-1990) |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress print on white paper. The central composition incorporates a locomotive vignette, an anchor, shovel, bale, and barrel as emblems of commerce and industry. To the left, a seated bare-breasted allegorical figure of Habana holds a shield, accompanied by a cornucopia; to the right, a seated allegorical figure of Spain holds a spear beside a crowned shield and a lion with its paw resting on a globe, with masts of sailing ships in the background. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain paper reverse, cancelled with two large red ink diagonal lines forming an X across the full face, with the handwritten notation "Inutilizado" (Cancelled/Voided) inscribed twice in script. Three punch-hole cancellations are visible along the lower margin, consistent with official demonetization practice. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Español de la Habana was established by royal charter in 1856 as Cuba's first chartered bank, created in part to stabilize colonial finances strained by the costs of maintaining Spanish authority on the island. Bradbury Wilkinson had only recently opened their New Malden works when this commission was taken, and the 300 Peso denomination — an unusually large face value for early colonial banking — was aimed squarely at commercial and mercantile transactions rather than everyday use.
Surviving examples are genuinely rare. The bank's early years were troubled, and note redemption was inconsistent enough to draw formal complaints from Havana merchants by the early 1860s.