- After a period of currency circulation focusing on the Spanish colonial reales, Cuba introduced its own Cuban pesos in 1857, and they have been around ever since.
- Cuban pesos are typically dolled out in paper bill form, just like the U.S. dollar. However, there are also two denominations of Cuban pesos circulated as coins.
- Cuban pesos come in seven paper denominations: 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100. The Cuban peso coins come in two denominations: 1 and 3. There are also coins of 1, 5 and 20 centavos.
- Cuban pesos are used most everywhere on the island, except for some exclusively tourist destinations. Cuban pesos are the only currency accepted in markets, for public transportation and by some vendors on the street.
- Make sure not confuse Cuban pesos with Convertible pesos. The latter is another currency in Cuba that is mainly used by tourists in an effort to thin out foreign currency from regular distribution.