BANCO NACIONAL DE CUBA Habana 1956 Acciones Bancarias

Banco Nacional de Cuba (1949-1960)

In 1949, banknotes were issued in the name of the Banco Nacional de Cuba, which was created by the Cuban Government to act as the treasury and issuer of circulating currency. Although the name was identical, this bank was not associated with the non-governmental defunct bank of 1905-1920. A new series of notes was issued in the same denominations as the previous Certificados de plata, with the addition of a rarely used, or needed, 10,000 peso note, portraying I. Agramonte. To augment this series, the bank issued a 1953 one (1) peso, commemorating the centennial of the birth of Jose Marti.

Smaller size one (1) peso notes, dated 1956 and 1959, and newly designed 5 and 10 peso notes were issued in 1958 and 1960. In 1959, the color on the 100 peso note was changed from purple to orange. January 1, 1959 was a jubilant day for Cuba. New Years bells rang, as Dictator Batista fled Cuba, and Fidel Castro and his followers were welcomed as national heroes, as they triumphantly entered Havana.

Assuming power, Castro appointed Felipe Pazos, a trusted friend, to the presidency of Banco Nacional de Cuba. Pazos had joined Castro in the struggle to overthrow Batista during the latter years of the revolution, and enjoyed great respect from Castro. Additional banknotes were ordered and issued in 1959 imprinted with the Pazos signature. However, in October 1959, Pazos was removed as president of the bank. He was replaced by Che Guevara on November 25, 1959, on orders of Castro and the Council of Ministers. Due to this sudden change, several denominations of bank notes were reordered with the Che Guevara signature.

On August 4, 1961, all 1949-1960 notes were recalled and demonetized. Soon after, a entire new series of notes was introduced by Castro’s government.