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The Cuban peso (peso cubano in Spanish language, ISO 4217 code: CUP) also known as moneda nacional (Spanish for 'national currency'), is the official currency of Cuba.
The Cuban peso was established by a Cuban law on October 29, 1914. It began circulating in 1915 at parity with the U.S. dollar until 1959-1960. The Castro government then introduced the socialist planned economy and pegged the peso to the Soviet ruble.
The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 resulted in a Special Period of difficult economic adjustments for Cuba. From 1994 to 2020 the Cuban peso co-circulated with the Cuban convertible peso (ISO 4217 code "CUC"; colloquially pronounced "kook" in contrast to the CUP, often pronounced "koop"), which was convertible to and fixed against the U.S. dollar, and which was generally available to the public at a rate of US$1 = CUC 1 = CUP 25. State enterprises under the socialist planned economy, though, were entitled to exchange CUPs into CUCs and U.S. dollars at the official, subsidized rate of US$1 = CUC 1 = CUP 1, within prescribed limits.
From 1 January 2021, Cuba implemented the so-called "Day Zero" of monetary unification, which abolished the Cuban convertible peso as well as the 1 CUP/USD rate for state enterprises. Henceforth the Cuban Peso became the only legal tender in Cuba, CUCs were converted at the rate of 24 CUP/CUC, and a single official exchange rate of 24 CUP/USD became applicable for both public and private transactions. However, demand for hard currency made these exchange rates unavailable in the informal market, where 1 USD is worth over 400 CUP .
In 1960, the peso lost value after the United States imposed an embargo against Cuba and the suspended sugar quota. Fidel Castro then introduced the socialist planned economy to Cuba with the Soviet Union as its new economic partner, and the Cuban peso was pegged to the Soviet ruble at the same exchange rate as with the US dollar (i.e. at 4 old rubles before the 1961 monetary reform, and 0.9 SUR (90 kopeks of the new ruble) afterward).
Foreign exchange was a government monopoly under the socialist planned economy and could not be bought by the general public using Cuban pesos. Foreign currencies were therefore exchanged for coins of the Instituto Nacional de Turismo (INTUR) from 1981 to 1989 and for foreign exchange certificates of the Banco Nacional de Cuba from 1985. These coins or certificates were then used by visitors to buy some luxury goods not available for purchase in the national currency.
In 1994 the Cuban convertible peso (CUC) was introduced at par with the US dollar and circulated alongside it. Partial revival of economic confidence then stabilized the Cuban peso to 23-25 CUPs to the CUC or USD, leading to the eventual fixing of exchange rates to US$1 = CUC 1 = CUP 25, which was available to the public from 2004-2005 and then from 2011-2020 through Cadecas ( Casas de Cambio, or Bureau de Change; an exchange rate of 1.08 USD/CUC applied from 2005-2011).
In 2004, the CUC replaced the U.S. dollar as a legal tender. The CUC was pegged to the dollar. From 2004 to 2020 a 10% penalty or tax was applied when changing U.S. dollars to CUCs, which can be avoided by exchanging other currencies in Cadecas.
The revival of economic stability after the Special Period from 2000, however, also made possible the revival of features of the socialist planned economy, which involved the distribution of subsidized goods to the public, supported by a system of artificially pegged exchange rates; for instance:
Among the effects of this complicated system of exchange rates and subsidies were as follows:
This complicated system of multi-track exchange rates and markets, and the inequalities and rent-seeking it spawned, had long been a source of frustration alike to government bureaucrats and to a disgruntled public. In October 2013, the government announced its intention to abolish this multiple exchange rate system and to phase out the CUC. While detailed preparations and new rules were underway, many businesses started to accept both CUPs and CUCs at the rate of CUC 1 = CUP 25, and higher-value banknotes of CUP 200, 500 and 1000 were introduced. Fears over its financial fallout on state companies, however, delayed the "Day Zero" implementation of monetary unification by several years, until the drying up of foreign exchange reserves in 2020 due to the absence of tourists during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns made the further sale of subsidized dollars and goods unaffordable to the state.
Brass 1 and 5 centavos were issued in 1943, and with copper nickel composition sporadically from 1915 to 1958. Beginning in 1915, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 40 centavos coins were occasionally minted. The last 10, 20, and 40 centavo coins were produced in 1952; these were commemorative issues celebrating the fiftieth year of the republic. As mentioned above, in 1953, silver 25 and 50 centavos commemorative coins were also issued. These were the last silver coins issued for circulation. The last US produced coin was the 1961 five centavo piece.
| 1 centavo | 16.76 mm | 1.4 mm | 0.75 g | Aluminium (aluminium 97.15%, magnesium 2.5%, manganese 0.35%) | Smooth | Coat of arms of Cuba, legend "REPUBLICA DE CUBA", denomination "UN CENTAVO" | "PATRIA Y LIBERTAD" ( Fatherland and Liberty) or "PATRIA O MUERTE" ( Fatherland or Death), Roman numeral "I" within a five-pointed star, date of issue | 1963 | |
| 2 centavos | 19.31 mm | 1.7 mm | 1 g | Aluminium (aluminium 97.15%, magnesium 2.5%, manganese 0.35%) | Smooth | Coat of arms of Cuba, legend "REPUBLICA DE CUBA", denomination "DOS CENTAVOS" | "PATRIA O MUERTE" ( Fatherland or Death), Roman numeral "II" within a five-pointed star, date of issue | 1983 | |
| 5 centavos | 21.21 mm | 1.81 mm | 1.5 g | Aluminium (aluminium 97.15%, magnesium 2.5%, manganese 0.35%) | Smooth | Coat of arms of Cuba, legend "REPUBLICA DE CUBA", denomination "CINCO CENTAVOS" | "PATRIA Y LIBERTAD" ( Fatherland and Liberty) or "PATRIA O MUERTE" ( Fatherland or Death), Roman numeral "V" within a five-pointed star, date of issue | 1963 | |
| 20 centavos | 24 mm | 2.15 mm | 2 g | Aluminium (aluminium 97.15%, magnesium 2.5%, manganese 0.35%) | Smooth | Coat of arms of Cuba, legend "REPUBLICA DE CUBA", denomination "VEINTE CENTAVOS" | "PATRIA O MUERTE" ( Fatherland or Death), Roman numeral "XX" within a five-pointed star, date of issue | 1969 | |
| 1 peso | 24.5 mm | 1.9 mm | 5.52 g | Brass-plated steel | Segmented reeding | Coat of arms of Cuba, legend "REPUBLICA DE CUBA", date of issue | "PATRIA O MUERTE" ( Fatherland or Death), portrait of José Martí | 1992 | |
| 3 pesos | 26.5 mm | 9 g | Cupronickel | Reeded | Coat of arms of Cuba, legend "REPUBLICA DE CUBA", denomination "TRES PESOS" | "PATRIA O MUERTE" ( Fatherland or Death), portrait of Che Guevara | 1992 | ||
| 5 pesos | 25.3 mm | 2.27 mm | 7.5 g | Brass-plated steel center in a Cupronickel-plated steel ring | Reeded | Coat of arms of Cuba, legend "REPUBLICA DE CUBA", denomination "CINCO PESOS" | "PATRIA O MUERTE" ( Fatherland or Death), portrait of Antonio Maceo | 2016 | |
In 1872, 5, 10, 25 and 50 centavo, and 1 and 3 peso notes were introduced by the Banco Español de la Habana. In 1891, the Treasury issued notes for 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 pesos. In 1896, the name of the bank was changed to the Banco Español de la Isla de Cuba, and it issued notes in denominations of 5 and 50 centavos and 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 pesos, followed by 10 and 20 centavos in 1897.
In 1905, the National Bank of Cuba (Banco Nacional de Cuba) issued notes for 1, 2, 5 and 50 pesos. However, the 1905 banknotes were not issued (source: Pick's catalog) In 1934, the Government introduced silver certificates (certificados de plata) in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 pesos, followed by 100 pesos in 1936 and 500 and 1000 pesos in 1944.
With the introduction of a socialist planned economy, the Banco Nacional demonetised all previous banknotes on August 7, 1961, and replaced them with new banknotes that were printed in Czechoslovakia: the changeover was announced on August 4, and only residents in Cuba were allowed to exchange small amounts on August 6 and 7. The three-peso note was introduced in 1983.
The 1961 bank notes were demonetized on May 1, 2002.Banco Central Cuba, Granma, February 27, 2002 200, 500, and 1000 peso notes were (re-)introduced in 2015. currently in circulation are 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 pesos. This banknote series is the only valid currency after the 2021 monetary unification when the convertible peso was retired.
| + Banknotes of the Cuban peso (Current issues) | ||
| 1 peso | José Martí | Fidel Castro and his men entering Havana, (January 8, 1959) |
| 3 pesos | Che Guevara | "Che" Guevara cutting sugar cane |
| 5 pesos | Antonio Maceo | Conference between Antonio Maceo and Spanish General A. Martinez Campos at Mangos de Baragua (1878) |
| 10 pesos | Máximo Gómez | "War of the people" |
| 20 pesos | Camilo Cienfuegos | Banana harvest and fieldwork ("Development of Agriculture") |
| 50 pesos | Calixto García Íñiguez | Genetic and Biotechnological Centre (es) |
| 100 pesos | Carlos Manuel de Céspedes | Anti-imperialistic tribune "José Martí", Havana |
| 200 pesos | Frank País | Moncada Barracks, Santiago de Cuba |
| 500 pesos | Ignacio Agramonte | Asamblea Constituyente ( Constituent Assembly), Guáimaro |
| 1,000 pesos | Julio Antonio Mella | University of Havana |
Current black market conversion price in Cuba August 19th, 2025. 404 pesos - 1 USD 451.5 pesos - 1 Euro
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