Tasas de Cambio para el dinero en Cuba desde enero 1, 1899.
The Monetary Situation in Porto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines.
The acquirement of Porto Rico and the Philippines and the military occupancy of Cuba by the United States has raised some perplexing questions for those administering our government in those islands. The situation has been described exhaustively in special reports which have been printed.
In Porto Rico and Cuba the local currencies are limited in volume, and in consequence of this fact the value of the money fluctuates in its relation to United States money, but maintains a fictitious value.
As the people become familiar with the money of the United States and it enters into common use the fluctuations will probably disappear and the relation between the local money and the United States money become fixed at the rate of exchange named in the official orders.
The official orders fixing the rate at which the local coins are now received by the authorities read as follows:
Circular No. 2. Division of Customs and Insular Affairs.
War Department, Washington, January 4, 1899
The following order of the President is published for the information and guidance of all concerned:
Executive Mansion, December 28, 1898.
It is hereby ordered that on and after January 1, 1899, and until otherwise provided, all custom, taxes, public and postal dues in the island of Cuba shall be paid in United States money, or in foreign gold coin, such the Spanish alphonsinos (centen) and the French louis, which will be accepted in payment of such customs, taxes, public and postal dues at the following rates:
| Alphonsinos or Centen (25 peseta piece) | $4,82 |
| Louis (20 franc piece) | $3,86 |
That all existing contracts for the payments of money shall be payable in the money denominated in such contracts, and where French and Spanish gold shall be the stipulated money of payment they shall be received in their present decreed inflated values, i. e., alphonsinos (25 peseta piece), $5,30; louis (20 franc piece), $4,24, or in the United States money at the relative value set forth in the above table, namely, $4,82 for alphonsinos (25 peseta piece), and $3.86 for louis (20 franc piece).
It is further ordered that on and after January 1, 1899, and until further provided, the following Spanish silver coins now in circulation in the island of Cuba shall be received for customs, taxes, public and postal dues at the following fixed rates in American money:
| Silver Coin | Value | Equivalent in U.S. Money |
| The peso | $1.00 | $0.60 |
| The medio peso | 0.50 | 0.30 |
| The peseta | 0.20 | 0.12 |
| The real | 0.10 | 0.06 |
| The medio real | 0.05 | 0.03 |
Bronze and copper coins now current in the island of Cuba will be received at their face value for fractional parts of a dollar, in a single payment to an amount not exceeding 12 cents (1 peseta).
William McKinley.
This order will be duly proclaimed and enforced in the island of Cuba.
G. D. Meiklejohn, Assistant Secretary of War.
| Moneda | Valor | Equivalente en dinero U.S. (pagos oficiales) |
| Centen (25 Pesetas) | $ 1.00 | $ 4.82 |
| Luis (20 Francos) | $ 1.00 | $ 3.86 |
| Moneda | Valor | Equivalente en dinero U.S. (transacciones entre particulares) |
| Centen (25 Pesetas) | $ 1.00 | $ 5.30 |
| Luis (20 Francos) | $ 1.00 | $ 4.24 |
The President’s Order Fixing The Value of Coins in Cuba.
President McKinley, after a thorough investigation of the money ratios existing in Cuba, has issued an order fixing the value of coins. The chief executive stipulates at what price foreign pieces in use in the island should be held in trade.
The step was taken with a view to prevent serious monetary troubles. The order applies to Porto Rico as well as to Cuba, and had the sanction of Secretary Gage before being signed by the President. It will practically give a new financial system to Cuba. The order issued by the President is:
It is hereby ordered that on and after January 1, 1899, and until otherwise provided, all customs, taxes, public and postal dues in the Island of Cuba shall be paid in the United States money, or in foreign gold coin, such as the Spanish Alphonsinos (centen) and the French louis, which will be accepted in payment of such customs, taxes, public and postal dues at the following rates:
Alphonsinos (25-peseta piece), $4.82.
Louis (20-franc piece), $3.86.
That all existing contracts for the payments of money shall be payable in the money denominated in such contracts, and where French and Spanish gold shall be the stipulated money of payment they shall be received in their present decreed inflated values —i. e., Alphonsinos (25-peseta piece), $5.30; louis (20-franc piece), $4.24; or in United States money at the relative value set forth in the above table—namely: $4.82 for Alphonsinos ( 25-peseta piece) and $3.86 for louis ( 20-franc piece).
lt is further ordered that on and after January 1, 1899, and until further provided, the following Spanish silver coins now in circulation in the Island oí Cuba shall be received for customs, taxes, public and postal dues at the following fixed rates in American money:
The peso, 60 cents; the medio peso, 30 cents; the peseta, 12 cents; the real, 6 cents; the medio real, 3 cents.
Bronze and copper coins now current in the Island of Cuba will be received at their face value for fractional parts of a dollar in a single payment to an amount not exceeding 12 cents (one peseta).
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
The necessity of this order is made apparent by the reports which the President received from his agents sent to investigate the financial systems of the two islands.
The Spanish authorities, to give current circulation to bank notes and silver coins, had fixed a fiat value upon the Spanish 25-peseta, known as Alphonsinos or centens, also upon the much used French 20-franc piece, popularly known as Napoleons.
To a Napoleon they had given a legal value of $4.24, which was an inflation of six per cent above their current value and ten per cent above their intrinsic or mint value.
To meet this condition the United States was called upon to declare an American eagle worth $11.00 and a five dollar gold piece to be worth $5.50 or to issue a decree of disinflation, the latter of which has been done.
Cuban bankers, planters and business men, with contracts and mortgages based upon these inflated values, urged upon the Government to inflate her own coins ten per cent as a protection to the local business situation.
Secretary Gage and the President looked upon this suggestion as plausible, but as purely artificial and temporary in its relief. They decided to disinflate these two coins with the very least possible disturbance to mortgages, contracts, notes and other existing agreements to pay money.
There will probably be some hardship upon debtors and possibly small financial disturbances. The first step will be taken at Santiago and the six per cent inflation squeezed out of gold at once in that Province.
The excess of the face value of the coins over the mint or intrinsic value will be taken care of later. Large employers of labor urged upon the United States Commissioners who investigated the matter that the disinflation of these coins meant an increase of wages of from four to ten per cent, which they claimed Cuban industries could not afford.
This proved to be the very worst argument they could produce since President McKinley was found to be perfectly willing to increase the wages of the working people and poorer classes.
While there may be some loss to the Cuban sugar and tobacco planters who have incurred liabilities under the old system of inflation, this Government intends to make up the difference to them in a reduction of ten per cent advalorum in the duties on machinery and twenty per cent on locomotives and railroad supplies.
There is a feeling at Washington also that land taxes will not be collected during the present fiscal year, nor until law and order are established and protection to property immeasurably improved.
All things considered, the step is probably the best and only one that could be taken to secure sound financial and better business conditions in Cuba and Porto Rico.
Money Banks and Banking (1904)
Cuba has no currency of its own coinage. The official money of the Republic is United States currency, and all taxes and public debts are payable in the same, except fees of registers of property, which are collected in Spanish gold. In commercial circles (wholesale) Spanish gold is the basis of calculation , and in the retail trade and in the country Spanish silver is almost entirely used.
The legal monetary system of Cuba is patterned after that of Spain. The centen or 25-peseta piece of gold, and has an average value of $4.90 American money, The silver coins are the peso, peseta, dos
pesetas, real, and medio, occupying the same relative position as the American dollar, dime, and nickel. The dos pesetas is a silver coin valued at 2 pesetas, for which there is no correspondent in the American coinage. The peseta is the fifth of a peso.
The following table will show in a more comprehensible manner the different coins in circulation in Cuba and their value in American money:
| Coin | Spanish | American |
| Peso | $ 1.00 | $ 0.60 |
| Dos Pesetas | $ 0.40 | $ 0.24 |
| Una Peseta | $ 0.20 | $ 0.12 |
| Un Real | $ 0.10 | $ 0.06 |
| Medio Real | $ 0.05 | $ 0.03 |
Bronze and copper 1-centavo (cent) and 2-centavo pieces pass current at their face value in sums not exceeding 1 peseta. For the Government the fixed rule of the center is $4.78 American and the Louis $3.83. By the latter is meant all the French coins and fourth part of a Spanish onza.
Banks and Banking (1904)
The banking facilities existing in Cuba at the present time are inadequate. Under the tenure of Spain no effort was made to afford the Cubans an opportunity to bank their savings, nor were the usual channels found in other countries for the distribution of money given attention.
On July 21, 1898, immediately following the occupation of Santiago by the American troops, the President of the United States appointed the North American Trust Company, of New York, fiscal agent of the United States, and it continued to act as such until July 18, 1901, when the assets and business were transferred to the Banco Nacional de Cuba.
This bank was organized with a paid-up capital of $1,000,000 United States currency. It purchased part of the assets of the North American Trust Company, and liquidated the company’s business in Cuba.
The bank has branches established at Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Cardenas, Manzanillo, Sagua la Grande, and Pinar del Rio, and correspondents at every other important point in the island.
The two principal conditions from which the financial situation in Cuba suffered were, first, scarcity of money in circulation; and, second, the lack of banking facilities outside the city of Habana, the consequent immobility of capital, and the difficulty of transferring money and credit from one point to another.
The bank sought to meet these conditions by establishing its branches at the points mentioned, through which the Government makes its deposits and disbursements for the several localities, and which
encourage local deposits, which are available for local loans. In this way exchange operations have been facilitated, giving mobility to capital and affording opportunities for individual and company deposits in the bank, instead of keeping specie hoarded in safes as theretofore.
The bank has a saving department, which serves to bring money into circulation, in addition to the bank’s capital.
Local loans are made and used for the development of business in each section. The surplus of one section is transmitted for loans in other sections where there is a demand for money. This prevents the money from being concentrated in Habana and gives facilities for the development of the several sections of the island instead of one particular section. The bank has correspondents all over the world, and does the principal part of the exchange business with China.
The bank’s capital of $1,000,000 is divided into 10,000 shares of the par value of $100 each, United States currency. This stock is held principally in the United States, although a large amount is held in Cuba.
J. P. Morgan & Co. are the bank’s correspondents in New York.
Royal Bank of Canada (1904)
The agency of the Royal Bank of Canada (head office at Halifax, Nova Scotia), established in Habana in 1899, has rapidly gained the confidence of the community, and is now ranked among the most important banking concerns doing business in the Island.
This institution, which is well and favorably known in the United States and Canada, has more than forty branches in those countries, including one in New York City, which gives it exceptional facilities for the
handling of transactions between that city and Habana.
The bank also has correspondents in the principal cities of Europe and in the East, among whom may be named the Bank of Scotland, the Credit Lyonnais, the Deutsche Bank, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
This concern has recently bought out the “Banco del Comercio” business and is the Government’s agent for the payment of the army of liberation.
It has branches in Santiago de Cuba and Camaguey.
The Spanish Bank (1904)
This institution, known as the “Banco Español de la Isla de Cuba” (Spanish Bank of the Island of Cuba), is a stock company, and was incorporated on April 9, 1856, with a capital stock of $8,000,000, now divided into 80,000 shares of the par value of $100 each. It has a reserve fund of $456,000. During the Spanish sovereignty it enjoyed the support of the Government, with which it negotiated many large transactions.
Colonial Loan and Deposit Association of Buffalo N. Y. (1904)
This association has an authorized capital of $20,000,000, and has for its object the bringing together of those people who have money to invest and those who want to borrow; to furnish a safe and profitable system for investing money in both large and small sums in a manner which will assist and encourage saving. Stock in this association is divided into shares of $100 each.
In addition to the regular banks there are several private firms, whose business is principally that of loaning money on securities.
Among these may be mentioned the banking houses of Zaldo & Co., L. Ruiz, H. Upmann & Co., and N. Gelats & Co., all of Habana.
Recently a law bas been proposed for the creation of national banks, which, it is thought, will be of great help in increasing the financial and economic development of the island.
El Sistema Monetario Español (Julio Le Riverend)
El sistema monetario español, establecido por el Real decreto de 19 de octubre de 1868, basado en la unidad peseta dividida en cien centavos, con una acuñación de monedas de oro, de plata y de bronce de diferente fuerza liberatoria, salvo las de oro que la tenían ilimitada, fue implantado también en Cuba.
Empero, a medida que debía procederse a su vigencia efectiva se le fueron introduciendo modificaciones y ampliaciones que terminaron por desnaturalizarlo, consagrando el desorden tradicional. Entre las medidas modificativas que se tomaron las más importantes fueron la autorización para la circulación de de ciertas monedas extranjeras, como los Luises franceses, y la de los centenes y onzas de oro, todas con el tradicional premio del 6%.
Similar por el procedimiento empleado para implantarla fue la introducción de la moneda americana. Al igual que la primera reforma arancelaria, fue el Presidente de los Estados Unidos por la proclama de 28 de diciembre de 1898 quien declaró de curso legal la moneda americana, exigiendo la conversión de las demás circulantes para el pago de los derechos y cargas arancelarios.
El sistema de circulación monetaria del país —desde tiempo atrás, como hemos apreciado en los tomos precedentes— estaba formado por una serie de signos de distinta procedencia, valor y ley. En los momentos en que las autoridades de ocupación imponen esta medida circulaban los centenes españoles y los luises franceses y, en vez de simplificarse mediante la sustitución de ellos por los nuevos, se mantuvo intacta la circulación de todas.
El agio cambista comenzó a operar en una forma extraordinaria. Fue preciso que por disposición del Gobierno interventor en marzo de 1899 se fijase el valor de las monedas españolas y francesas, estableciéndose que el pago de las rentas públicas podría verificarse en cualquiera de las monedas circulantes.
El 19 de agosto de 1901, por medio de otra proclama, ratificó el Presidente de los Estados Unidos la disposición, de 1898 reduciendo ligeramente el valor de las monedas españolas y francesas en un esfuerzo por adecuar la política oficial con las prácticas de los cambistas que exigían una prima sobre esas monedas americanas equivalente a un 6 ó un 8%.
Así comenzó la historia monetaria del período republicano…
Los Luises y los Centenes en 1914
Por decreto que dictara el Presidente de nuestra República se fijó que, a los efectos del artículo XVII de la ley de 29 de octubre de 1914, sobre acuñación de la moneda nacional, las monedas de oro extranjeras del cuño francés y español tendrán como tipo de valor diez y nueve centavos y treinta centésimos de centavo por cada franco o peseta oro.
En su consecuencia, las monedas de oro de veinte francos y las del propio metal de veinte y cinco pesetas, tendrán un valor de tres pesos, ochenta y seis centavos y cuatro pesos, ochenta y dos centavos, respectivamente, en moneda legal.
Con relación a las monedas de plata, se proveerá con arreglo a las cotizaciones que para la
fecha rijan en el mercado en la fecha en que se realice la operación de su venta.
Bibliography and notes
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1899. U.S. Congress. House of Representatives of the United States. 56th Cong., 1st sess., Doc. No. 8, 1900, 307. [En línea Serial set no 3501-4000]
- “The President’s Order Fixing The Value of Coins in Cuba.” En The Chicago Banker A Financial Journal, 1:81-82. Chicago: The Chicago Banker Co Publishers, 1899. [En línea]
- De Quesada, Gonzalo. “Chapter X Money Banks and Banking.” En Cuba, 230-33. Washington: International Bureau of the American Republics, 1905.
- Le Riverend, Julio. “Moneda, Crédito y Sistema Fiscal.” En Historia Económica de Cuba, 4.a ed. Habana: Editorial Pueblo y Educación, 1974, 523, 558.
- Aledón Cuesta, José María. La Moneda de Cuba. Valencia: Dobler Difusiones, 1999.
- “La Onza de Oro Durante la Intervención de Estados Unidos.” En Museo Numismático del Banco Nacional de Cuba, 145-46, s. f. https://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/09/13/04cuba.pdf.
- “Intervención Norteamericana.” En Numismática de Cuba Siglo XVI – Siglo XX, 24-25. El Museo, 1977.
- “Los Luises y los Centenes”. Cuba en Europa. Año 7, núm. 146, 15 julio 1916, p. 16.
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