May 23, 2008
Do you know what this is?
An acquaintance of mine who recently came from Cuba showed me this one-sided coin and others like it in different denominations.
As you can see it says "C. ANGOSTURA" around the outside of "S.C.".
We suspect that it was some kind of currency used by an employer to pay employees in colonial Cuba but honestly that's just a guess.
Any suggestions would be great.
Posted by Henry Louis Gomez at May 23, 2008 05:24 PM
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Angostura is a brand name. Here is a link but I don't know if it's related.
Posted by: George L. Moneo ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 23, 2008 06:06 PM
according to history,there were places in Cuba,where the empolyers used to pay with a kind of currency,with value only in the stores around,and usually those stores were owned by the same "employer"....so,at the end,the employee was tight to that job,to that store,even the "house" where the employee was living was his employer's property and it was payed with that currency...
i dont know if that precise coin was one of those used as a method of payment or not...
maybe SC means "santiago de cuba"......
Posted by: tony44 at May 23, 2008 07:39 PM
Debt bondage was very common in many countries including the United States. “Sixteen Tons” which was written in the 1940s depicted the misery of such a system:
Sixteen tons, and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store...
To my knowledge these type tokens were given to employees who worked in sugar mills and mines. There is no known sugar mill in Cuba (original or current name) named “C Angostura,” there is however, a place in Oriente Cuba by that name: Angostura. Perhaps this token is from one of the mines.
Posted by: Firefly at May 23, 2008 11:25 PM
Perhaps the "C" is for Central as in Central Angostura?
Posted by: Henry Louis Gomez at May 23, 2008 11:30 PM
Angostura era un central. Eso es un token para, probablemente, comprar víveres en la tienda del central.
Posted by: giraldo at May 24, 2008 03:34 AM
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