Venezuelan Coins Struck by Philadelphia Mint in 1876

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The Mint Act of Jan. 29, 1874

 

The United States Mint struck coins for foreign countries starting in 1833 but did not have official authority to do so until The Mint Act of Jan. 29, 1874 was approved and signed into law. The 1874 act states that the U.S. Mint may mint coins for a foreign country if the minting does not interfere with regular minting operations, and shall prescribe a charge for minting the foreign coins equal to the cost of the minting (including labor, materials, and the use of machinery).

 

The 1874 act states that the U.S. Mint may mint coins for a foreign country only if the minting does not interfere with domestic minting operations. Therefore, foreign coinage production was halted. Mint modernization programs after 1984 such as coinage press replacement, commemorative programs and the production of bullion coinage quickly consumed any significant excess coinage capacity.

 

On June 14, 1876, the Venezuelan Minister of Finance ordered coins of 75% copper and 25% nickel for 1 and 2-1/2 centésimos de venezolano from the United States to replace copper centavos.

 

Venezuela was the first official foreign coinage client for the U.S. Mint. The 1 Centavo and 2½ Centavo coins made of a copper-nickel alloy were produced in the Philadelphia Mint in 1876 and 1877. The U.S. Mint did not save exact alloy composition details on these coins. The U.S. Mint also did not record an exact breakdown by year of the mintage when they appeared in the 1877 Director of the Mint report.

 

Coinage manufactured for Venezuela by the U.S. Mint from 1876 until 1948 was inscribed “ESTADOS UNIDOS DE VENEZUELA”.

 

Coinage after 1954 was inscribed “REPUBLICA DE VENEZUELA”.

 

 

Composition: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel Weight: 4.0000 Grams Module: 23.000 mm

Date: 1877 Mintage: 500,000 Minter: Philadelphia Mint

 

 

 

Composition: Copper-Nickel Weight: 2.5000 Grams Module: 19.000 mm

Date: 1877 Mintage: 2,000,000 Minter: Philadelphia Mint

 

Mintage figures:

1876 1 centavo 8 million

1877 1 centavo 2 million

1876 2 ½ centavo 1.5 million

1877 2 ½ centavo 500,000

 

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Link-a-fied

 

Not my coins, images courtesy of Numismatic Catalog of Venezuela

 

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Does the date logo look familiar...?

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edit: image courtesy of CoinFacts