Caribbean Bono Movimiento 26 de Julio—10 Marzo 1958 Cuban Revolution Bond—Día del Salario de la Libertad—N962 & N969

Photos are examples; please message us for photos of the individual bonos available.

These are from the 10 de Marzo 1958 (3/10/1958) series titled Día del Salario de la Libertad (Liberty Salary Day). Bonds to fund the April 9th Strike. Scroll to end for more information.

Item Characteristics

Obverse: 

• Rebel soldiers with the Cuban flag. Stylized rebel leader widely understood to represent Fidel Castro—bearded, in military cap, pointing forward beneath the Cuban flag—accompanied by an armed fellow fighters
• Top banner: República de Cuba Republic of Cuba
• Large text on star/left side: Día del Salario de la Libertad Day of the Wage for Freedom
• Date: 10 de Marzo de 1958 March 10, 1958
• Main declaration (center block): Este bono equivale al importe de un día de trabajo y representa la decisión ciudadana de borrar por siempre la afrenta recibida el 10 de Marzo de 1952. This bond is equivalent to the value of one day's work and represents the citizens' resolve to erase forever the affront suffered on March 10, 1952.
• Bottom banner: Movimiento 26 de Julio 26th of July Movement

Reverse:

• Two clenched fists bound in shackles on the red and black flag of the Movement

Size: 99 mm x 61mm

Bonos del Movimiento 26 de Julio

The Bonos del Movimiento 26 de Julio were revolutionary bonds / promissory notes issued in the 1950s by the Movimiento 26 de Julio, the guerrilla organization led by Fidel Casto.

They functioned as:

• Fundraising instruments
• Political loyalty tokens
• Quasi-war bonds, issued before the movement had a state

They were sold primarily to:

• Cuban middle- and upper-class sympathizers
• business owners hostile to Batista
• members of the Cuban diaspora (especially in the US)

How they worked

• Issued in pesos (various denominations)
• Promised repayment after victory, sometimes:
  • at face value
  • with interest
  • or convertible into government bonds post-revolution
• Often signed or stamped by movement officials
• Sometimes carried patriotic or revolutionary language rather than legal boilerplate

They were not legal securities in the normal sense — they were acts of faith.

What they funded

Money raised via the bonos went to:

• weapons
• supplies for the Sierra Maestra guerrillas
• logistics, bribes, and safe houses
• propaganda and international support networks

Think of them as crowdfunding a revolution before crowdfunding existed.

What happened to them after 1959

This is the sharp edge. After the revolution succeeded:

• Many bonos were never honored
• Some were selectively redeemed
• Others were voided as “counter-revolutionary,” “bourgeois,” or politically inconvenient

This led to:

• resentment among former supporters
• legal disputes (especially abroad)
• today’s collector interest, because they represent broken revolutionary promises

They reveal something crucial about the revolution:

• It relied heavily on capitalist-style financing
• It promised continuity and legality
• Then repudiated many of those commitments once in power

They’re artifacts of the moment when the movement still needed the bourgeoisie — before it discarded them.

The Bonos del Movimiento 26 de Julio were revolutionary IOUs — financial faith instruments that helped overthrow Batista and were often abandoned once power was secured.

The Second Issue: Bonds of the April 9th Strike

Obverse: Rebel soldiers with the Cuban flag. Reverse: Two clenched fists bound in shackles.

Issued in March 1958, these bonds represent the second printed emission of the Cuban revolutionary movement, created specifically to fund preparations for the general strike of April 9, 1958. The series was produced in four denominations: 2, 3, 5, and 10 pesos.

The striking reverse design was drawn by Hernando López Martínez, a militant of the 26th of July Movement. In an act of quiet defiance, López Martínez concealed his initials within the artwork itself—disguised as simple lines across the palms of the clenched fists, hidden in plain sight as a personal signature on a document that could have cost him his life.

Today, these bonds are genuinely scarce, and assembling a complete set is a considerable challenge for even dedicated collectors of Cuban revolutionary numismatics.