Photo of the day: Sighs for the old Cuban pesos, equal to dollars

Havana/A crowd gathered this Thursday at the doors of Obispo 305, in Old Havana, headquarters of the Numismatic Museum of Cuba. Around several exhibitors, heads tried to make their way to contemplate the exhibition of bills and coins that the institution, dependent on the National Bank of Cuba, has organized in the middle of the street.

The items are not property of the State, but of private collectors, who have lent them for this occasion, an employee informed this newspaper.

Giant exotic coins and national banknotes from all eras caught the attention of passers-by, eager for anything new in increasingly empty streets.

But the display that attracted the most people was the one that contained numismatics from the time of the Republic. “They are just like the fulas” said one of those present, alluding to the resemblance of that old paper to US dollars. “I still lived when one of these pesos was worth the same as a dollar,” said an elderly woman. “You could even pay with one or the other.”

The sighs followed one another then, revealing the desperation over the devaluation of the national currency. Today the illegal currency market pays 675 pesos per dollar, and the minimum wage is enough to buy a carton of eggs.

Looking at the banknotes from before 1959, someone commented: “This is from when the banks did have banknotes.” To which another responded: “Especially when they were worth it!”