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50 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Español de la Habana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1881 (1872-1890) |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black, green, and yellow, the obverse carries a central vignette of a standing young girl bearing a bundle of sugar cane over her shoulder, an allusion to Cuba's dominant sugar industry, with palm trees in the background. Denomination numerals and the issuing bank's title are set within letterpress text panels, framed by guilloche borders. The note bears a manuscript date of 21 March 1881 and is hand-signed by bank officials. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 50 EL BANCO ESPAÑOL DE LA HABANA á la presentación de este billete pagará al portador CINCUENTA pesos fuertes en efectivo. Habana, 21 de Marzo 1881 (Translation: The Spanish Bank of Havana Upon presentation of this note, the bearer will be paid Fifty Pesos fuertes in cash. Havana, March 21, 1881.) |
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| Comments |
Banco Español de la Habana was the sole note-issuing institution in colonial Cuba, operating under a royal charter granted by Madrid in 1855. The bank's relationship with the Spanish crown grew increasingly strained through the 1870s and 1880s as Cuba's wars of independence disrupted commerce and forced repeated expansions of paper circulation far beyond what silver reserves could support. By the time notes of this series were in active use, public confidence in the bank's ability to redeem them at face value was already eroding.
Bradbury Wilkinson had by 1881 become one of the dominant security printers for colonial and overseas banks, and their work for Habana shows the high intaglio standards of that period. The plates were engraved in London regardless of where payment was nominally demanded.