The key has represented many different situations in the numismatic history of Cuba. It is an important, prominent part of the National Shield of the Republic, and since the shield is an important part on the coins of the republic, the mere mention of the key in numismatics immediately is associated with Cuba. Yet, even before Cuba became a republic, the key had played an important, active role in its numismatics history.

The key on the shied, officially stands for, “The Key to the Gulf of Mexico,” and not to the Caribbean, as some people think. That theory of the key of the Caribbean does not stand, as the events of the last forty some years have shown.

The Caribbean is a vast geographical area and needs to be divided into various smaller segments. The name that the Europeans gave to the American islands, discovered by the Spaniards, was “The Indies”. Not all the islands are in the Caribbean Sea. There are many small islands, so many that the Spaniards would refer to them as “The eleven thousand virgins”.

The Indies continued to be the official name for centuries. In fact, during the early years of the colonization, the whole newly discovered territory was called the Indies. The legend on Hispanic coins reads “Hispanarium Rex, et Indies.” or “Hispan et Ind Rex”, which translated is, King of Spain and the Indies. Also, “The Archivos de las Indias de Sevilla,”, or The Archives of the Indies of Seville was officially where all the records of all that took place in America during the colonization are kept.

Later on, when modern, proper names were given, the new discovered world became known as North America, Central America, South America and The (Smaller and Larger) Antilles. When other European powers, came to America to steal the islands from Spain, they (the islands) were segmented into:
1.) the British Commonwealth Islands
2.) the French Islands
3.) the Dutch Islands
4.) the Danish Islands

More recently, the USA Islands include: St. Thomas, St. Johns, St. Croix, Vieques, Culebra, Culebrita, Mona, Monito, Puerto Rico, and some other, much smaller islands. Most of these European countries fought for these islands because they were small and accessible by sea, and could be taken with a few men . Most of these islands were abandoned by the Spaniards, because they had no gold or little of it. Spain had such wealth in the America main land that those little island were not important to fight for at the time. Of great importance to Spain were the Greater Antilles: Hispaniola (The first capital of America ), Cuba (their gathering spot of the treasures from the main-land to be sent to Spain), Jamaica (of not much interest), and Puerto Rico, which became a military garrison and the key to the Caribbean, for Spain and now for the United States.

With the loss of Jamaica to the British, and part of Hispaniola becoming Haiti, Cuba, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico became the “Spanish Greater Antilles”. They were, as they still are, the most important islands in the Caribbean/Antilles.

Cuba and Puerto Rico were the last possessions of Spain in America. Santo Domingo was very important to the administration of the new “Possessions”. It was the first city in America and the home for Colombus and his family. From there, at the outset, they controlled all the business and movements into the new world. A special coinage was made at Seville for Santo Domingo, and when it became necessary, the first mint was established in America to strike coins for use in the Antilles. These were crude, copper cuartos and maravedies, but they were too overvalued by the crown. For that reason, they were refused by some of the merchants of the time, to the point that the Crown had to pass a royal decree, to counter stamp all those coins with a “Royal, Treasury Key “and to provide punishment for those who dare to refuse acceptance.

Those coins circulated heavily in all the islands, including Cuba. It is believed that is the reason that the coins, counter stamped with a short and long keys, are attributed to Cuba in the Krause World Coin catalog .** There was always a lack of circulating minor coins in Cuba, but for some reason, the Crown never allowed the establishment of a mint there, in spite of multiple requests of the local government. Approval was denied even though Cuba had the same requirements and metal ore as Santo Domingo.

One of the ideas of the locals was to produce Proclamation medals with a similar size and weight as the regular coinage of Spain, in order to circulate them in Cuba as small change, when required, without breaking the law. Many of these medals have figures of keys in their designs*. Thus, another reason to associate keys with Cuba.

Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins** attributes some counter stamped coins, with a short key and a long key, to Cuba. Most of these are in U.S. and Mexican coins. The dates on the host coins do not coincide with any known revolutionary period or an important event. In addition, no official written reference has ever been found anywhere. The author was told by the numismatists at the Numismatic Museum of Havana in 1977, that all their efforts to locate information related to that countermark, was fruitless. The author contends that “hear say” cannot be accepted when attributing a coin. With no real evidence, or no documented reference, the author concludes that these counter stamped coins with a short and a long key are only a numismatic mystery.

The author feels that, because of all the keys in the Cuban coin history, everyone assumes that “If it’s a key, it most be Cuban.” The last key to be mentioned is the “Key, mint mark” of the Havana Mint. It is accompanied with a Star, which is also another symbol of the Cuban coins. This key was initiated in 1977 with the establishment of the first mint in the Republic of Cuba.

So, there you are! All the Cuban Numismatic Keys! Should you know of another one, please contact the author. The research and the pursuance of the true story of a coin, is what provides the maximum satisfaction in Numismatics. Much, much more than the possession of a particular piece!

*see: /The Coinage of Cuba by Thomas Lismore 1966 edition, pages #31, # 32. Also, Medallas de proclamacion y Juras de los Reyes de España by Jose T. Medina.

** see/ Standard Catalog of World Coins by Chester Krause and Clifford Mishler, Third edition, page no.280. KM-R1 to KM-R7 inclusive.

Rudy Valentin www.numisrev@msn.com This article can be published for non- profit purposes, if proper attribution is provided.