Cuba 1943 5 centavos
This specimen was lot 40203 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $3,360. The catalog description[1] noted, "CUBA. Brass 5 Centavos, 1943. Philadelphia Mint. PCGS MS-66 Gold Shield. Mostly pale yellow in color with bursts of orange toning that creates eye-catching contrast, this wholesome specimen offers cartwheel luster abounding throughout. It is not surprising that it is tied for the finest certified at PCGS." Cuba, having obtained her independence from Spain in 1903, quickly fell into the economic orbit of the United States. Most of her coinage prior to the coming of the communists was made at the Philadelphia mint. The five centavos was struck in copper-nickel 1915-16, 1920, 1946 and 1960-61 on US five cent blanks but these were not available in 1943. Brass was substituted instead. A similar one centavo exists.
Recorded mintage: 6,000,000.
Specification: 4.6 g, brass, 21 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-11.3a.
- Altz, Charles G., and E. H. Barton, Foreign Coins Struck at United States Mints, Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1965.
- Byrne, Ray, Coins and Tokens of the Caribees, Decatur, IL: Jess Peters, Inc., 1975.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The August 2021 ANA sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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