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5 Centavos
| Issuer | El Banco Español de la Isla de Cuba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1896 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in dark green and centred on an oval intaglio vignette of tobacco plants in full leaf, set within an elaborate guilloche border. Large numeral '5' counters in ornamental frames occupy the left and right fields, each surrounded by interlocking lathe-work rosettes. The bank name is split across a top and bottom panel: 'EL BANCO' at the top arc and 'ESPAÑOL DE LA ISLA DE CUBA' along the lower border, with the printer's imprint beneath. |
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| Variants | P#45a - issued note without overprint P#45b - red diagonal overprint "PLATA" |
| Comments |
El Banco Español de la Isla de Cuba issued this note in 1896, deep into the Cuban War of Independence — the same conflict that would end Spanish colonial rule two years later. The bank was itself a colonial institution, effectively a government fiscal agent rather than a conventional commercial bank, and by 1896 its ability to maintain public confidence was under serious strain. Insurgency, American economic pressure, and military expenditure were hollowing out the colonial treasury simultaneously.
The American Bank Note Company's involvement is worth noting: a New York firm printing currency for a Spanish colonial government, in a crisis year, while American public opinion was already shifting hard toward Cuban independence.