KM# 576.2 - 10 CENTAVOS
Nickel Plated Steel Obv: National arms Rev: Castillo de la
Fuerza Note: Coin alignment, recut designs.
The Republic of Cuba, situated at the northern edge of the Caribbean
Sea about 90 miles (145 km.) south of Florida, has an area
of 42,804 sq. mi. (110,860 sq. km.) and a population of *11.2 million.
Capital: Havana. The Cuban economy is based on the cultivation
and refining of sugar, which provides 80 percent of export earnings.
Discovered by Columbus in 1492 and settled by Diego
Velasquez in the early 1500s, Cuba remained a Spanish possession
until 1898, except for a brief British occupancy of Havana
in 1762-63. Cuban attempts to gain freedom were crushed, even
while Spain was granting independence to its other American
possessions. Ten years of warfare, 1868-78, between Spanish
troops and Cuban rebels exacted guarantees of rights which were
never implemented. The final revolt, begun in 1895, evoked
American sympathy, and with the aid of U.S. troops independence
was proclaimed on May 20, 1902. Fulgencio Batista seized
the government in 1952 and established a dictatorship. Opposition
to Batista, led by Fidel Castro, drove him into exile on Jan.
1, 1959. A communist-type, 25-member collective leadership
headed by Castro was inaugurated in March, 1962.
Vedere di più