Today's Journal entry is the twelfth installment in my weekly series on the United States coinage for the Philippine Islands. The eleventh of the twenty slots that compose a NGC USA-Philippines Type Set is the Reduced Size and Weight Twenty Centavos of 1907 - 1929.

When the U.S. Congress established the Standards for U.S. Philippine coins in March 1903 the price of silver was at an all time low. By 1905 rising silver prices brought the bullion value of Philippine silver coins to the level where they were beginning to disappear from circulation. By November 1906 the bullion value of Philippine silver coins had risen to 13.2% over their face value. Laws prohibiting the melting and export of silver coins proved largely ineffective and something had to be done.

On December 6, 1906 the U.S. Congress passed an Act "for the purpose of preventing the melting and exportation of the silver coins of the Philippine Islands as a result of the high price of silver". The Act reduced the weight and fineness of the four denominations of USA/Philippine silver coins. It also granted authority to recall all USA-Philippine silver coins from banks and circulation and ship them back to the United States for re-coining into pieces of lesser fineness.

Under the new standards the silver Twenty Centavos coin was reduced from 5.385 Grams (83.1 grains), of .900 fineness silver (ASW 0.1558 oz.) to 4.0 grams (61.72 grains), of .750 fineness silver (ASW 0.0964 oz.). The size of the Twenty Centavos was also reduced from 23 mm to 20 mm. The first year of production for the new "Reduced Size and Weight" silver coins was 1907.

The Reduced Size and Weight Twenty Centavos uses the same obverse and reverse designs that were used on earlier Twenty Centavos. The Twenty Centavos was designed by Filipino artist Melicio Figueroa. 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. Her 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.

Twenty Centavos struck at the Philadelphia Mint have no mint mark. All of the Twenty Centavos made at the San Francisco Mint have an "S" mint mark on the reverse to the left of the date. The Twenty Centavos struck at the Manila Mint in 1920 and 1921 carry no mint mark. Starting in 1928 all Twenty Centavos made by the Manila Mint have an "M" mint mark on the reverse to the left of the date.

Business strikes of the reduced size and weight Twenty Centavos were struck at both the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints in 1907. From 1908 through 1919 business strikes of the Twenty Centavos were made exclusively at the San Francisco Mint. In 1920 Twenty Centavos production shifted to the newly opened Manila Mint. Twenty Centavos were produced at the Manila Mint in 1920, and 1921. No Twenty Centavos were produced anywhere from 1922 through 1927. Manufacture of Twenty Centavos business strikes resumed at the Manila mint in 1928. Reduced size and weight Twenty Centavos were also struck at the Manila Mint in 1929.

Since U.S. mints had to replace nearly all of the Islands silver coinage in 1907 it was not felt that there were enough resources to make 1907 Proof Sets. When Proof Set production resumed in 1908 all of the silver coins, including the 1908 Twenty Centavos, were struck in the newly authorized reduced weight and fineness. 1908 was the last year of production for Philippine Proof coins and the only year that the reduced size and weight Twenty Centavos was struck in Proof. The 1908 (P) Twenty Centavos is a PROOF ONLY ISSUE with a mintage of 500 coins.

Mintage figures for business strikes of the Reduced Size and Weight Twenty Centavos are as follows: 1907-(P) (1,250,651), 1907-S (3,165,000), 1908-S (1,535,000), 1909-S (450,000), 1910-S (500,259), 1911-S (505,000), 1912-S (750,000), 1913-S (948,565), 1914-S (795,000), 1915-S (655,000), 1916-S (1,435,000), 1917-S (3,150,656), 1918-S (5,560,000), 1919-S (850,000), 1920-(M) (1,045,415), 1921-(M) (1,842,631), 1928/7-M Mule-M (100,000), and 1929-M (1,970,000).

Die Varieties: The Reduced Size and Weight Twenty Centavos has seven recognized die varieties. They are: 1908-S/S (Allen number 11.04a), 1908-S Repunched 8 (Allen number 11.04b), 1913-S/S (Allen number 11.09a), 1916-S Tilted 6 (Allen number 11.12a), 1928/7-M Mule (Allen number 11.18), 1929-M Triple Repunched 2 (Allen number 11.19b), and 1929-M Repunched last 9 (Allen number 11.19c).

The 1929/7-M MULE: All 1928-M Twenty Centavos are "MULES", combining the regular Twenty Centavos obverse die with a regular Five Centavos reverse die, which bears a narrower shield and larger date than the Twenty Centavos reverse. Unlike the 1918-S Five Centavos MULE which was made in error the 1928-M Twenty Centavos MULE was made intentionally to fill a rush order for Twenty Centavos pieces from the banking community. Since no reverse dies for Twenty Centavos had been sent from Philadelphia that year, the only suitably sized reverse die available was that used for Five Centavos coins. A 1927 Five Centavos die was altered and used for the 1928 Twenty Centavos. The underdate feature is faint at best and is rarely if ever detectable.

Strike Issues: Most obverses show flattening of the figure's hair in varying degrees. This sometimes carries over into the figures left bosom and left hand.

GEM quality examples of most dates of this type coin are both rare and expensive. The only date which is readily available at a modest price is the 1929-M which has a book value of $250.00 in MS65. Other options for Type Set collectors would be the 1917-S or 1918-S Twenty Centavos both of whom have book values slightly below $500.00 in MS65.

The attached picture shows my 1917-S USA-Philippines Twenty Centavos. This attractive, well struck, specimen is graded PCGS MS64

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 Commonwealth Reverse Twenty Centavos of 1937 - 1945.

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