50 Centavos – Cuba

In 1994, Cuba faced its most severe economic crisis since the 1959 revolution, known as the "Special Period in Time of Peace." The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 had severed the island's vital economic lifeline, eliminating billions in subsidies, favorable trade, and aid. This precipitated a catastrophic economic contraction, with GDP falling by over 35%. Shortages of food, fuel, and basic goods were rampant, leading to widespread malnutrition and a desperate search for survival strategies by the population.

The currency situation was at the heart of this crisis. Cuba operated with a dual-currency system, though not in its later formalized sense. The Cuban peso (CUP) was the national currency used for salaries and most domestic transactions, but its value was evaporating due to hyperinflation and a collapsing domestic economy. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar, which had been illegal for citizens to possess since the 1960s, became the de facto currency of the black market, which supplied most essential goods. This created a brutal dichotomy: those with access to dollars (via remittances, tourism, or the black market) could access a parallel economy, while those reliant solely on peso salaries faced destitution.

In response to the crisis, the government enacted dramatic, market-oriented reforms in mid-1994. Most significantly, it legalized the U.S. dollar, allowing citizens to hold and use it openly. This move aimed to capture the hard currency circulating in the black market and provide a safety valve for the population. Concurrently, the government opened mercados agropecuarios (farmers' markets), where food could be sold at market prices in pesos, increasing supply. These measures, alongside a crackdown on illegal emigration during the 1994 rafters crisis, stabilized the extreme social tension and marked a pivotal, albeit reluctant, acceptance of limited capitalist mechanisms to save the socialist system.