a m e r i c a

| home |

| africa | AMERICA | asia | east asia | europe | oceania | south east asia |

| commemorative | hybrid | polymer | australia |

| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z |

08 September, 2021

..Cuba - 500 Pesos Dated 2019 500th Anniversary of the Foundation of Havana Commemorative

República de Cuba
(Republic of Cuba)

Banco Central De Cuba
(Central Bank of Cuba)
Currency - Peso (CUP)

November 16th, 2019, marks the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the city of San Cristóbal de La Habana by the Spaniard Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar (Conquistador 1465-1524). As part of the celebrations for the 500th Anniversary, a new 500 pesos banknote is issued to commemorate this special occasion.

On the front, it depicts the portrait of Ignacio Agramonte (b.1841-1873), a Cuban revolutionary. The commemorative text of "Anniversary 500 Foundation City of Havana, 16/11/1519" is printed in the center of the note.
Aniversario 500 Fundacion
ciudad de la Habana
16/11/1519
 
An image of the La Giraldilla is also printed between the commemorative text. The La Giraldilla is a weather vane and for more than three and a half centuries overlooked Havana's harbour from the top of the Castle of the Royal Force (Castillo de la Real Fuerza) in the city's old quarter.  
 
The note is also printed with the year date of 2019. 
 
Five Hundred Pesos
Dated 2019, Ignacio Agramonte (b.1841-1873)

On the back, it illustrated a gated building (El Templete) built on the original site of the city's foundation in 1519 and below with the following commemorative texts are added - EL TEMPLETE (1828) - SITIO FUNDACIONAL DE LA HABANA (1519) (El templete (1828) - Foundational Site of Havana 1519).

There are not many countries around that world today that still designs/print banknotes with white edges both front and back. Current series of Cuban pesos are all designed in this manner. Apart from the front of this note, the back is basically printed on mono colour.

The Cuban pesos are a closed currency even though it has an exchange rate of 25 pesos to one US dollar. The Cuban peso is not negotiable outside its territory and as such it's worthless except to collectors. Also, according to the Cuban laws, it is illegal to take Cuban pesos out of the country.

Signature: 
President - Irma Margarita Martinez Castrillon (tenure 2017 - 2020)
Dimensions: 150mm x 70mm

El Templete

Footnote
Cuban banknotes are now harder to find due to the current United States trade embargo against the country. US citizens are allowed to visit Cuba albeit some restrictions applied. The United States embargo against Cuba started since the 1958 and it is now over 63 years. I remembered that I used to be able to buy Cuban banknotes but over the past few years, they are now less appearing especially those newer issues. Same goes to banknotes of Iran and North Korea too.
 
This note is printed off center and it also has the cutting cup mark on the top edge where the security thread is. Cutting cup mark is very common for paper notes. Some collectors do not like this and I believe some dealers/sellers tried to iron them and flatten it out as much as they can, which is not a good thingy to do. So if you insist on not have a note with cutting cup mark, you have been warned 😋 




No comments:

Post a Comment