Cuba - ABC Peso 1936 - Museum Gallery

November 2025

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I really like the "ABC" Peso, but that's not why I have two examples here. While looking to start a small collection of "BANNED" Cuban coins (just try to search for 'Cuba' in the coin section of eBay, 06/2015), I noticed a difference in the date style and laurel wreath of Liberty. The 1934 (1st yr of issue) has a overlapped date and the wreath leaves (especially) appear to have been tooled on the edges. This 1936 lacks those features. I cannot find a reference that specifies a variety of type 1 vs. 2, but I think it qualifies when such a difference is so apparent.
The fineness and weight appear on the reverse and as these were struck at USA mints, it's exactly the same as a US silver dollar. They were coined as a bullion reserve to guarantee the value of the paper currency issues of 1934 and later. Imagine the concept of backing up your fiat paper with silver in reserve hard currency. If we did that in the USA we could save ourselves from eventual hyper inflation and economic collapse - just saying...
The following from Steve Album: The ABC peso achieved its odd name from a group titled the "ABC". This group was a clandestine, revolutionary protest group with members from the University of Havana and young professionals who raised against the dictatorial rule of President Gerardo Machado. The ABC got its simple name from the three alphabetical cells its members belonged to; A, B, and C.