Timeline

• 11.03.1841
• Royal treasury resolution on the gold-to-silver ratio of 1 Onza de Oro (8 Spanish Escudos in gold) = 17 Pesos Fuertes (8 Spanish Reals in silver); effective immediately.
• 22.03.1841
• Royal ordinance on the revaluation and counter-marking (stamp: lattice) of Spanish and Spanish colonial coins of 4 silver Reals from ¼ to ⅕ of the silver Peso (same parity as the Spanish 4 billon Reals); effective immediately and implemented on 30.09. - 23.10.1841 in Havana (until 19.10.1841 in other places).
• 25.02.1855
• Royal decree on the establishment of the "Spanish Bank of Havana" with a 25-years' privilege as commercial bank; effective upon constitution of the bank on 12.04.1856
• ??.01.1857
• Start of issuance of paper money denominated in "Pesos Fuertes" by the Spanish Bank of Havana
• 09.07.1869
• Law of the insurgent Republic of Cuba "in arms" on the issuance of paper money (the issuanc of war bonds had already started on 01.06.1869); effective immediately
• around 1872
• Counter-stamping of foreign silver coins (probably) by insurgent troops (stamp: key)
• 20.10.1876
• Governor's resolution on the gold-to-silver ratio of 25 Spanish Pesetas (1869) = 5.30 Cuban Pesos; effective immediately.
  - 05.04.1894: Royal treasury resolution on the admission of French gold coins for circulation at the rate of 20 French Francs = 4.24 Cuban Pesos.
• 28.01.1881
• Royal decree on the reconstitution of the Bank of Havana as Spanish Bank of the Island of Cuba and renewal of the 25-years' privilege as commercial bank; effective 19.04.1881.
  - 07.07.1882: Law on the relationship between the colonial government and the Bank of Cuba (turned it into a de facto government bank); effective 01.08.1882.
• 30.07.1892
• Presidential decree on the demonetization within 6 months of the paper money of the Spanish Bank of Cuba; effective 12.09.1892 (withdrawal until 12.03.1893):
  - Notes above 5 Pesos were exchanged into gold coins at a rate of 249 Pesos (paper) = 100 Pesos (gold)
  - Smaller notes were exchanged into silver subsidiary coins at a rate of 2 Pesos (paper) = 1 Peso (silver).
• 1897-1898
• Production of silver "coins" in support of the Cuban war of liberation:
  - 10.05.1897: Contract between the pro-insurgence "Junta Revolucionaria de Nueva York" and the firm A. Cobe & G. Markewicz for the production of silver Pesos without denomination and inscribed "Souvenir" to avoid classification as counterfeits (so-called "Type 1"). The first batch was delivered on 16.07.1897 by Dunn Air-Brake Company, Philadelphia; two further batches were produced in 1897-1898 by the Gorham Manufacturing Company, Providence.
  - around 1898: Production of silver Pesos with denomination and without inscription "Souvenir" (so-called "Type 2") by Gorham Manufacturing Company, Providence.

Valuation Regimes

• 1841-1898
• Fixed rate against gold, 1869-1893 dominated by inconvertible paper money

Timeline

• 28.12.1898
• United States presidential executive order on the introduction of the US Dollar as Cuba currency without demonetization of the current coinage; effective 01.01.1899. Ratings:
  - Gold coinage: 25 Spanish Pesetas = 4.82 US Dollars = 5.30 Cuban Pesos, 20 French Francs = 3.86 US Dollars = 4.24 Cuban Pesos.
  - Subsidiary coinage: 5 Spanish Pesetas = 0.60 US Dollar = 1 Cuban Peso; Spanish copper and bronze coins were received at face value up to an amount of 12 US Cents.
• around 1904
• Production of paper money by the National Bank of Cuba (est. 18.07.1901 as affiliation of the "North American Trust Company"), denominated in "Dollar = Peso"; their issuance was prohibited by government resolution of 30.01.1905.

Timeline

• 29.10.1914
• Law ["Sobre acuñacion de moneda nacional"] on the issuance of the national coinage (appendix 3 to the law ["De defensa económica"] on the economical system); effective immediately
• 09.03.1915
• Start of issuance of the new coins, US banknotes and coins remained legal tender and circulated alongside the Cuban money.
  - The Spanish and French gold coins were demonetized immediately and could be exchanged against Cuban or US gold coins at the official values.
  - 30.06.1951: Demonetization of the US banknotes and coins.
• 22.03.1934
• Law [No. 93] on the issuance of state paper money in the form of silver certificates; effective immediately.
  - 22.05.1934: Law [No. 244] on the demonetization of the gold coinage of 1915; effective immediately.
  - 06.03.1953: Decree [No. 734] on the demonetization of the silver certificates of 1934; effective immediately
• 23.12.1948
• Law [No. 13] on the establishment of the National Bank of Cuba as central bank; effective upon constitution of the bank on 27.04.1950
  - 13.10.1960: Law [No. 981] On the nationalization of the National Bank; effective immediately.
• 04.08.1961
• Law [No. 963] on the exchange of banknotes with partial confiscation; effective immediately and implemented 06.08. - 07.08.1961:
  - Per person banknotes up to 200 pesos were be exchanged immediately into new banknotes at 1 : 1;
  - Higher amounts up to 10,000 Pesos had to be deposited in a blocked account;
  - All excess amounts and any cash holdings outside Cuba (in particular by exiled Cubans in the US) were invalidated.
• 13.08.1993
• Law [No. 140] on the authorization of the use of US currency in specially designed facilities; effective immediately
• 28.05.1997
• Law [No. 172] on the establishment of the Central Bank of Cuba; effective immediately
• 10.12.2020
• Currency law [No. 17, "De la implementación del proceso de ordenamiento monetario"] on the unification of the monetary system and the abolition of the Convertible Peso (the Cuban government had decided this already on 22.11.2013, however without any concrete roadmap); effective 01.01.2021

Valuation Regimes

• 1914-1976
• Fixed rate against US Dollar
• 1976-1994
• Variable rate
• 1994-
• Fixed rate against US Dollar

Timeline

• 1981-2001
• Circulation of small change tokens for visitors and holders of foreign currencies and exchange certificates, issued by the National Tourism Institute "INTUR":
  - 1981-1989: Issuance of "Type 1" metallic tokens as small change to US banknotes and after 1985 to "Type B, C, D" foreign exchange certificates.
  - 1988: Issuance of "Type 2" metallic tokens as small change to "Type A" foreign exchange certificates.
  - 28.08.2001: Ordinance on the demonetization of the "Type 1" metallic tokens, allowing the exchange into Convertible Pesos at 1 : 1 ("Type 2" tokens were not mentioned as non-convertible currencies had become obsolete by then); effective 15.10.2001.
• 1985-1995
• Circulation of foreign exchange certificates for visitors and domestic holders of foreign currencies, issued by the National Bank of Cuba:
  - 01.10.1985: National Bank Resolution [No. 220]: Transferable "Type A" certificates for foreign visitors in exchange for cash or National Bank travellers' cheques in non-convertible currencies.
  - 01.10.1985: National Bank Resolution [No. 220]: Transferable "Type B" certificates for foreign visitors and Cuban nationals in exchange for cash in convertible currencies.
  - 01.05.1987: National Bank Resolution [No. 131]: Named and non-transferable "Type D" certificates for foreign visitors in exchange for cash in convertible currencies.
  - 01.06.1987: National Bank Resolution [No. 132]: Named and non-transferable "Type C" certificates for Cuban nationals and foreign residents in exchange for cash in convertible currencies.
  - 20.12.1994: National Bank Resolution [No. 357] on the demonetization of "Type B, C, D" foreign exchange certificates and exchange into Convertible Pesos at 1 : 1 (the "Type A" certificates were not mentioned as non-convertible currencies had become obsolete by then); effective 28.02.1995.
• 1995-2020
• Circulation of a parallel currency called "Convertible Peso" (code CUC) for visitors and domestic holders of foreign currencies:
  - 20.12.1994: Central Bank Resolution [No. 357] on the creation of a parallel currency to suppress the use of foreign currencies; effective 01.01.1995; issuance of the paper money and coins began on 01.03.1995.
  - 23.07.2003: Central Bank Resolution [No. 65] on the prohibition of payments in foreign currencies and on the introduction of an exchange tax on the conversion of foreign currencies into Convertible Pesos; effective immediately
  - 23.10.2004: Central Bank Resolution [No. 80] on the prohibition of the use of US banknotes (which have to be exchanged into Convertible Pesos at 1 : 1); effective 08.11.2004
  - 18.03.2005: Central Bank Resolution [No. 13] on the authorization of the exchange of Cuban Pesos into Convertible Pesos by Cuban nationals at a rate of 1 : 25 (buy) and 1 : 24 (sell); effective immediately
  - 20.09.2010: Central Bank Resolution [No. 85] on the introduction of a fixed exchange rate of 1 Convertible Peso = 24 Cuban Pesos; effective immediately.
  - 22.02.2013: Central Bank Resolution [No. 65] on the abolition of the exchange tax for the conversion of foreign currency into Convertible Pesos; effective immediately.
  - 01.01.2021: Abolition of the Convertible Peso and unification of the currency.
  - 30.06.2021: Demonetization of the paper money and coins in Convertible Pesos.