In the year 1868 Spain passed from a silver to a double standard, adopting the peseta as the monetary unit, equal in weight and fineness to the French franc and that of other countries of the Latin Union, composed of France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Greece by the monetary conventions of 1865 and 1868. The Isabellan silver escudo, adopted in Spain as the unit by the law of June 24, 1864, was thereby demonetized. But the Spanish peseta, consisting of gold or silver indifferently, while circulating freely in Cuba along with French gold and American currency in recent times till 1915, did not become the unit of value in the Island. The Spanish gold dollar (peso oro Espanol), an imaginary coin equal to five Spanish gold pesetas (of 24.8903 grains of pure gold each) considered at a premium of 106, weighing 21.13 grains of fine gold (as a result of the 6% premium), and circulating in the form of current Spanish or French gold pieces, was taken as the standard. By reason of such premium these coins were received in the country at $5.30 oro espanol for the centen (25 peseta gold piece) and $4.24 oro espanol for the Louis and doblon (25 franc and 25 peseta gold pieces of equal weight and fineness), which values they held till the last of Spanish money circulation in the Island. The use of Colonial paper money in Cuba, during the wars with the Spanish government, did not substantially lessen the demand for actual coin, and it was not until after the Spanish-American War of 1898 that new conditions arose which afforded credit and security for the introduction of a composite system of currency. When the American government was established at Santiago in 1898, one of its first acts was to stabilize the currency of the eastern part of the Island. United States money was forthwith adopted as the lawful medium and Spanish silver was eliminated accordingly. In the provinces of Havana, Pinar del Rio, Matanzas and Santa Clara, Spanish gold and silver continued in use, along with French gold and U. S. currency, at varying market quotations from day to day, until the adoption of a national standard by the Cuban Congress under the law of October 29, 1914, by virtue of which the Cuban gold peso, of weight and fineness similar to the American dollar, was declared the unit, and United States money a legal tender. Under the authority of the Secretary of Finance, Spanish and other moneys were shipped abroad from Cuba as follows _Fiscal Year 1914-1915_ (ending June 30th): United States $3,032,529.00 Spain 1,435,192.00 Canary Islands 66,000.00 $4,533,721.00 _Fiscal Year 1915-1916_: United States 17,337,734.00 Spain 17,411,003.00 France 60,000.00 Canary Islands 38,300.00 34,847,037.00