Banknote, 1 peso, Banco Nacional de Cuba, Serie de 1960

Banknote

-

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

Banknote, 1 peso, Banco Nacional de Cuba, Serie de 1960

Entry/Object ID

2025.20.34

Description

Rectangular intaglio-printed banknote, blue-black on a pale green-grey ground, now heavily toned. Obverse: BANCO NACIONAL DE CUBA across the top in shaded capitals. At center, an oval portrait of José Martí, identified beneath the vignette, flanked by laurel branches. UN PESO at left within an ornamental panel; a large 1 over PESO at right. SERIE DE 1960 appears twice, at upper left and at center right. Serial number printed twice, at upper right and at left. Two ornate corner cartouches upper left and right. A red circular seal of the Banco Nacional de Cuba, with a star at its center, is overprinted at left across the UN PESO panel. Signatures at lower left and lower right above their titles. Gold-convertibility clause in a panel along the bottom edge, with the printer's imprint beneath. Reverse: REPUBLICA DE CUBA on a scrolled banner across the upper field. At center, the coat of arms of Cuba within an oval — key, palm, and bicolor field — framed by branches and scrollwork, against a radiating engine-turned ground. 1 and UN PESO repeated in panels at left and right. Legal-tender legend in a panel along the bottom, printer's imprint beneath.

Context

A circulating note of the Banco Nacional de Cuba, from the same Serie de 1960 family as the two ten-peso notes already cataloged. ⚠️ The gold-convertibility clause on the obverse is worth noting against the date: the note promises full backing in gold and convertible foreign exchange at the moment Cuba was moving toward the nationalizations of 1960 and the break with the dollar economy. It reads as a survival of the pre-revolutionary monetary order printed into a revolutionary-period issue.

Acquisition

Accession

2025.20

Acquisition Method

Gift

Made/Created

Date made

1960

Time Period

1960s

Place of Origin

Country

U.S.A.

Continent

North America

Manufacture Method

Intaglio Printing

Designer or Engraver Information

Designer or Engraver

American Bank Note Company

Role

Print Maker

Notes

Felipe Pazos, Presidente del Banco — president of the Banco Nacional until 26 November 1959, when Guevara succeeded him Rufo López Fresquet, Ministro de Hacienda — Cuban Minister of the Treasury from 1959, serving under President Manuel Urrutia Lleó and Prime Minister José Miró Cardona, resigned 17 March 1960; lived 1911 to 2 August 1983 ⚠️ Designer and engraver not established. ABNC records would be the route; the company's archives are held in institutional collections.

Banknote Details

Banknote Type

National Bank Note

Currency

Cuban Peso

Denomination

1 peso

Issuing Authority

Banco Nacional de Cuba

Serial Number

N307821A

Obverse

Transcription

BANCO NACIONAL DE CUBA — National Bank of Cuba SERIE DE 1960 (twice) — Series of 1960 UN PESO / 1 PESO / UN / 1 — one peso N307821A (twice) — serial number JOSE MARTI — beneath the portrait PRESIDENTE DEL BANCO — President of the Bank; over the signature Felipe Pazos MINISTRO DE HACIENDA — Minister of the Treasury; over the signature Rufo López Fresquet GARANTIZADO INTEGRAMENTE CON EL ORO, CAMBIO EXTRANJERO CONVERTIBLE EN ORO Y TODOS LOS DEMAS ACTIVOS DEL BANCO NACIONAL DE CUBA. ESTE BILLETE CONSTITUYE UNA OBLIGACION DEL ESTADO CUBANO. — Guaranteed in full by gold, foreign exchange convertible into gold, and all other assets of the Banco Nacional de Cuba. This note constitutes an obligation of the Cuban State. AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY. — printer's imprint Red seal, legend around a central star: BANCO NACIONAL DE CUBA ⚠️ partly obscured; verify the full seal legend in hand

Reverse

Transcription

REPUBLICA DE CUBA — Republic of Cuba 1 / UN PESO — one peso ESTE BILLETE TIENE CURSO LEGAL Y FUERZA LIBERATORIA ILIMITADA, DE ACUERDO CON LA LEY, PARA EL PAGO DE TODA OBLIGACION CONTRAIDA O A CUMPLIR EN EL TERRITORIO NACIONAL. — This note is legal tender with unlimited discharging power, in accordance with the law, for the payment of every obligation contracted or to be performed in the national territory. AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY. — printer's imprint

Composition

Material

Paper

Material Notes

Banknote paper, intaglio-printed in blue-black with a red overprinted seal. ⚠️ Fiber composition and any security features — watermark, planchettes, embedded threads — not assessed; examine in transmitted light.

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Relationships

Related Places

Place

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Place

Country

U.S.A.

Continent

North America

Notes

print

Research Notes

Notes

Researched 2026-08-07 in Spanish and English. Signatories: English Wikipedia, Rufo López-Fresquet; Diario de Cuyo on Guevara-signed 1960 notes; todocoleccion dealer listing describing a Serie de 1960 five-peso note signed by Pazos. ⚠️ The dealer listing renders the name as "Felipe Lazo," evidently a misreading of Pazos, and the newspaper piece cites a local historian rather than a numismatic authority. Both are weak sources; they corroborate one another only loosely. The signature readings above rest on enlargement of the object itself, not on those sources. ⚠️ One convergent detail worth recording: the Diario de Cuyo account lists the Guevara-signed 1960 issue as comprising 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pesos — the one peso is absent from that list, which is consistent with this denomination carrying the Pazos signature instead. Weak evidence, and not decisive.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

September 7, 2026

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

September 7, 2026