|
Various kinds of money have been in circulation in
Cuba and this at different periods. From the year
1550 to 1914, coins from Spain were used as Cuba was
a Spanish colony. The ‘fuerte’, ‘colunario’ or
‘sevillano’ Spanish coins were used on the Cuban
market it could be exchanged but with a premium
while the local money was the ‘sencillo’.
In the years 1895 to 1898, in order to finance the
War of Independence, paper money was issued by the
Banco Espanol. However with the economical situation
prevailing, this money lost its value by half by the
year 1898.
Under American occupation the US$ was used in Cuba
in eastern Cuba whereas in the other provinces
Spanish gold and silver coins, US $ and French gold
were used in trade. On October 29 1914, the first
Cuban money was produced. It has the same
particularities as the US$. The Cuban dollar never
became the sole monetary unit in Cuba, it was used
alongside with the US$ due perhaps to the proximity
of the American coast and the long historical,
economical and political dependency of Cuba towards
America. However it took along three years to remove
the Spanish monies from the Cuban market and they
were completely out of the hands of the Cubans by
the year 1917.
It is only on August 4 1961 with the promulgation of
the Law 963 that a new currency came on the Cuban
market that is the Cuban dollar or Cuban pesos, two
years after the revolution of 1959 brought about by
the Castro Brothers.
Today the Cuban money is known as the Peso and the
peso Convertible or Cuban dollar. The peso is used
to deal with minor expenses fore example like buying
second hand objects on the road, to buy drinks or
foods or even to pay public transports where as the
Cuban convertible pesos is used in businesses. In
difficult times in Cuba where Cuban money had no
value, people used the US$ to secure their capital
bringing the demonetization of the Cuban money. |
