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United States Coinage for the Philippine Islands: The Twenty Centavos of 1903 - 1906

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JAA

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Today's Journal entry is the eleventh installment in my weekly series on the United States coinage for the Philippine Islands. The tenth of the twenty slots that compose a NGC USA-Philippines Type Set is the Twenty Centavos of 1903 - 1906.

The Twenty Centavos was designed by Filipino artist Melicio Figueroa and engraved by U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Charles Barber. The obverse design features a young Filipino woman standing to the right in a flowing dress while striking an anvil with a hammer held in her right hand, the left hand is raised and holding an olive branch. In the background is a billowing volcano. The obverse carries the inscriptions "Twenty Centavos" and "Filipinas" (Spanish for Philippines. The reverse design depicts an eagle with spread wings perched atop an American shield. The reverse carries the inscription "United States of America" and the date.

The 1903 - 1906 Twenty Centavos has a diameter of 23 mm and a weight of 5.385 grams (83.1 grains) of .900 fineness silver (ASW 0.1558 oz).

Business strikes of the Twenty Centavos were produced at the Philadelphia Mint in 1903 (5,352,789) and 1904 (10,000), and the San Francisco Mint in 1903 (150,080), 1904 (2,060,000), and 1905 (420,000).

All of the 1904 (P) business strikes were produced as part of a Special Mint Set of USA-Philippine silver coins (Ten Centavos, Twenty Centavos, Fifty Centavos, and One Peso) struck specifically for sale at the Philippine Exhibit at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition (World Fair) in St. Louis. Of the 10,000 sets produced for this purpose 3254 were sold at the 1904 World Fair. Another 500 sets were sold by the Philippine Treasury in Manila. The remaining 6246 sets were placed in circulation as ordinary coins.

A limited number of Proof Twenty Centavos were produced at the Philadelphia Mint from 1903 through 1906. The mintage figures for proof Twenty Centavos is as follows: 1903 (2,558), 1904 (1,355), 1905 (471), and 1906 (500). The 1905, and 1906 Twenty Centavos are PROOF ONLY ISSUES. Proof sets were not sold in any sort of protective packaging or cases but were contained in plain paper envelopes and each coin was wrapped individually in thin tissue paper. This method of packaging has contributed to the micro thin hairline scratches seen on most proof coins as well as the heavy toning often seen. Choice and GEM proof coins are very scarce.

The business and proof coins produced at the Philadelphia Mint have no mint mark. Business strikes produced at the San Francisco Mint have an "S" mint mark on the reverse to the left of the date.

The 1903 - 1906 Twenty Centavos had a weight of 5.385 Grams of .900 fineness Silver (AWS .1558 oz). With an official exchange rate of two Philippine Pesos to one U.S. dollar it was not long before the value of the silver content in the Twenty Centavos exceeded its face value and many were melted during the great silver melts of the period. In 1906 the silver coins held in reserve by the Treasury to back the Philippine paper money then in circulation were exported to the U.S. for re-coinage into the reduced size and weight pieces which followed in 1907. Lyman Allen estimates that less than 20% of all 1903-1906 silver coinages exist today in any grade.

Finding Gem quality examples of the 1903 - 1906 Twenty Centavos can be quite challenging. The least expensive Gem quality Type coins would be the 1904 (P) business strike (from the 1904 SMS) or the 1903 (P) proof issue. Both of these coins have a book value of $350.00 in MS/PF65.

Strike Issues: These pieces are generally well struck. The one exception is the 1904-S which usually shows weak striking on the figure's left bosom, the frontal hair just above the ear, and the figure's left hand.

Die Varieties: The 2012 edition of the Allen catalog of US/Philippine coins lists three die varieties for this Type coin. They are; 1904-S Repunched 1 (Allen number 10.04a), 1904-S/S (Allen number 10.04b), and 1905-S/S and Repunched 1 (Allen number 10.06a). Another die variety which is known to exist is the 1903 (P) Repunched 1.

The attached picture shows my 1903 USA-Philippines Twenty Centavos PR66. The 1903 Twenty Centavos had a mintage of 2,558. The combined NGC/PCGS population for the 1903 Twenty Centavos in PF66 is 25 coins with 9 specimens graded higher. This specimen is a well struck, untoned, fully brilliant SUPERB GEM with beautiful mirror fields. A high resolution image of this specimen can be found at: http://www.pcgs.com/TrueView/large/15761470.jpg

To see my Twenty Centavos Registry Set click here: http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=51345&Ranking=all

To see the other coins that comprise an NGC USA-Philippines Type Set visit my award winning (2011 Best Presented Set Award) USA-Philippines Type Set at: http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=51257&Ranking=ngc

An expanded version of the USA-Philippines Type Set is found in my Custom USA-Philippines Type Set at: http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=9238

Next week's installment will feature the Reduced Size and Weight Twenty Centavos of 1907 - 1929.

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