Compared to the bitter blizzards, the ice storms and snow storms that were causing havoc over much of the U.S. and Canada, it was a warm December morning in Havana, Cuba. But the reception I got at Casa de la Moneda de Cuba, the Cuban Mint, was even warmer. The Commercial Office of the Cuban Mint is located on the second floor of the Hotel Sierra Maestra in Miramar, one of the prettier sections of Havana. The hotel is just across the street from the shores of the turquoise blue Caribbean Sea.

Soon after I checked in with the receptionist in the lobby, I was greeted by Deborah Lorenzo Silva, a sales executive with the Cuban Mint. We went upstairs by elevator, and then entered an office with a tastefully decorated reception area. Inside the reception area, I was ushered into a modern office. There I met Marcos Campanioni Tamayo, the manager of the Commercial Office. Marcos and Deborah offered me coffee, juice and water and then we began to talk business.

They gave me their last copy of La Moneda de Cuba, a bilingual (Spanish and English) catalogue of coins for sale by the Cuban Mint. The catalogue was beautiful: nicely designed with full color photographs of a large selection of Cuban commemorative coins since 1977, when the Mint struck its first coins. They also gave me gifts: several Che Guevara pins and a new cased Che medal. The obverse of the 45 mm medal shows Che as a guerrilla in high relief with his signature to the right. The reverse of this antiqued finish medal shows Che atop the memorial where his remains are buried. The words "MEMORIAL AL CHE" means "memorial to Che." Underneath the memorial are the words COMPLEJO MONUMENARIO SANTA CLARA," the date 2000, and a key, representing the Mint in Havana.

The monument to Che is in Santa Clara, Cuba, the site of one of the most important battles to overthrow General Batista. I told Marcos and Deborah I had been collecting coins for about 40 years, had quite a few newer Cuban coins, and wanted to buy more so I could sell them at coin shows and over the Internet. They asked me where I had gotten my Cuban coins. I told them I bought most of them from two major coin dealers, one in Canada, the other in Great Britain. Since both dealers were already Cuban Mint distributors, the officials knew both dealers quite well and were pleased that I wanted to purchase Cuban coins directly from the Cuban Mint.

Marcos excused himself from the meeting, saying he had another meeting to go to. That's when Enrique Martinez, another sales executive, joined the meeting. So we got down to business. Since both Enrique and Deborah spoke English well, they began by showing me some of the coins the Cuban Mint had for sale. First was a cased set of three one ounce .999 silver coins commemorating Che Guevara. The denomination of each of the 38 mm proof coins was 10 pesos. The first coin in the set is dated 1997, commemorating the death of Che in Bolivia 30 years earlier. The obverse shows Che walking with a rifle over his shoulder, with his signature below and to the right, with the dates 1967 and 1997 struck in relief on four mountains. The coin has the words "GUERRILLERO HEROICO" heroic guerrilla on either side of the design. The reverse shows the Cuban Coat of Arms as well as "30 Aniverario de la caida en combate de Ernesto Guevara de la Serna y sus Companeros." (30th Anniversary of the death in combat of Ernesto Guevara de la Serna and his compatriots.)

The second coin in the set dates from 1992, commemorating the 25th anniversary of Guevara's death. It depicts Che in classic pose with the words Guerrillero Heroico, Ernesto Che Guevara, and the dates 1967 1992. The reverse shows the Cuban Coat of Arms.

The third coin depicts Che as a minister of the Cuban government facing left. It is dated 1967 1997. Although I think all three coins are exceptionally attractive, I find the pose of Che as government minister to be the most detailed and most artistic coin in the series. All three coins are low mintage, with only 10,000 coins struck in silver.

They also showed me some three different sets of hand painted 32.5 mm one peso coins. The first series of six BU coins depict four fish and two birds. My favorites are a brown spotted eagle ray, dolphins, flamingos and a pelican. All are dated 1994. The mintage is 10,000 pieces for each, except for the lovely flamingos coin which has a mintage of 12,000. The second series consisted of three birds, two fish and one butterfly. My favorites are a colorful wood duck, a ruby throated hummingbird, and a papilio butterfly. All are dated 1996, with a mintage with a mintage of 10,000 each.

The last series of hand painted coins were all produced in 1997. They depict the plants and flowers of the Caribbean. My favorite is a lovely red and orange hibiscus with a yellow and red pistil. The mintage of these coins is only 5,000 pieces. After seeing these coins, I immediately ordered sets of each. Then I went through the catalogue and ordered other coins and medals they had for sale. When I asked them how I should pay for these coins and medals, they said they would gladly accept payment in Canadian dollars but that it would take some time to figure out the invoice and get all the coins together. They asked what hotel I was staying at. I replied, "at the Hotel Lincoln." They replied they would deliver the coins to my hotel the next morning, along with the invoice, and that I could pay them the next day.

Before I left, I told them that when I returned to Canada, I would place another order, one much larger than this initial order. I left the office, got into a taxi that dropped me off at the Plaza des las Armas, where I walked around a square, browsing through a huge outdoor used book flea market. I picked up several books on Cuban coins including a brand new hardcover Cuba: A Country and its Currency by the National Bank of Cuba. When the booksellers found out I was looking for Cuban coin books, they quickly pulled out a few Cuban coins and a lot of Cuban paper money, some of it from the 19th century. But most of it was recent, from 1949, 1958 and 1960, some of the later with Che's signature. I also bought five bonds that helped finance the Cuban revolution as well as four uncirculated specimen notes from the 1970s and 1980s, plus an assortment of notes from the nineteenth century.

The next morning, I met Deborah and Enrique in the lobby of the Hotel Lincoln. The invoice had been calculated in U.S. dollars, so Deborah made a quick phone call to a Cuban bank to find out the exchange rate. I paid them, they gave me all the coins and medals, and we said goodbye.

The next day the newest authorized distributor of Cuban coins left the swaying Cuban palm trees and the warm glow of the sun for the below zero Canadian winter. George can be reached at George Manz Coins, PO BOX 3626, Regina, SK S4P 3L7 Canada.

Website: www.georgemanzcoins.com
Email: george@georgemanzcoins.com.

OTHER NEWS

Member Sergio Moya, Madrid Spain, is working with Tom Michael, member and Market Analyst for Krause Publications, to update the Standard Catalog of World Coins in the areas of modern commemorative coinage. Senor Moya has access to all the Havana Mint specifications, etc. Senor Moya is available for ANY questions, sales, etc., regarding the Cuban commemorative issues. He can be contacted at mailto:gracia_moya@hotmail.com

Frank Putrow is now a Special Contributor to Krause Publications in matters of pricing, listings, etc. Frank will work with Tom Michael to update, add, correct, etc. “pre-Castro” items that are listed in the Standard Catalog of World Coins. Frank Putrow and Juan Pena, member, are the two Special Contributors in this area.

For example: the 2004 catalog differentiates between two 1920 5 centavos, Km 11.1 and 11.2. The 11.1 has a dot/period after G (Gram), whereas the 11.2 is missing the dot/period. You have to look closely to identify the differences. This change was provided by Juan Pena. Now, three of the four principals who can make additions/changes to the Krause catalog are CNA members, so we should be able to get some positive results. All suggestions must be well documented WITH photographs, specifications, etc. A procedure will be developed regarding this process.