5 Pesos

The Banco Español de la Habana occupied an unusual position: a nominally Spanish colonial institution that also functioned as the sole bank of issue for Cuba, with its notes circulating alongside Spanish Treasury bills during a period of chronic fiscal instability on the island. The 1870s and 1880s were particularly fraught — the Ten Years' War had ended in 1878, leaving Cuba's economy badly disrupted and public confidence in paper currency fragile at best.

Bradbury Wilkinson printed the entire P#19 series in London, a common arrangement for colonial issuers who trusted British security printers over local production. The notes were shipped to Havana for use, which occasionally created supply problems during periods of poor transatlantic communication.