Those Amazing Mules: a tale of two Mules. by JAA USA/Philippines Collection

[CSJournals-migration]

A Mule is a coin struck from two dies not originally intended to be used together. During the forty-seven years that the Philippines were under United States sovereignty the mint produced two mules, one by mistake in 1918 and the other intentionally in 1928. The story of these two Mules is one of the most interesting in U.S./Philippine numismatics.

 

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 November 1906 the bullion value of Philippine silver coins had risen to 13.2% over their face value. On December 6, 1906 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. Among these changes the silver Twenty Centavos coin was reduced from 5.385 Grams, .900 fineness silver, ASW .15580 oz to 4.0 grams, 750 fineness silver, ASW .0964 oz. The size of the Twenty Centavos was also reduced from 23mm to 20mm. The first year of production for the new "Reduced Size and Weight" silver coins was 1907.

 

Since the new 20mm "Reduced Size and Weight" Twenty Centavos was very similar in size to the 20.5mm diameter Five Centavos mistakes were bound to follow. In 1918 inattentive mint employees accidentally muled a normal Five Centavos obverse die with the reverse die of a 1918-S Twenty Centavos. The regular reverse has a narrower shield and a large date, while the mule with the Twenty Centavos reverse bears a broad shield with a small date. A very small percentage of the 1918-S Five Centavos are Mules. The 1918-S Mule is among the rarest and most sought after USA/Philippine coins. The major grading services have only graded forty-three 1918 Mules in any grade and only nineteen in mint state. The 2012 Allen catalog of "U.S./Philippine Coins" lists the following prices for the 1918-S Mule: AU $2000.00, MS60 $6,750.00, and MS63 $15,000.00.

 

Unlike the 1918-S Five Centavos MULE, which was made in error, the 1928-M Twenty Centavos MULE was made intentionally. All 1928-M Twenty Centavos are "MULES", combining the regular Twenty Centavos obverse die with a regular Five Centavos reverse die. In 1928 the mint received a rush order from the banking community for Twenty Centavos pieces. 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. The reverse of the 1928-M Twenty Centavos Mule bears a narrower shield and larger date than other 1907 -- 1929 Twenty Centavos.

 

The 1928/7-M Twenty Centavos MULE had a Mintage of only 100,000 coins making it the lowest mintage "Reduced Size & Weight" Twenty Centavos and a key date in the Twenty Centavos series. While not nearly as rare as the 1918-S Five Centavos Mule the 1928/7 Twenty Centavos Mule is still a very desirable coin and difficult to find in AU or better. The major grading services have only graded sixty-two 1928/7-M Mules in any grade and only thirty-five in mint state. The 2012 Allen catalog of "U.S./Philippine Coins" lists the following prices for the 1928/7-M Mule: AU $250.00, MS60 $850.00, MS63 $1,850.00, and MS65 $4,500.00.

 

In order to eliminate any future confusion between Twenty Centavos and Five Centavos reverse dies the size of the Five Centavos coin was reduced from 20.5mm to 19mm in 1930.

 

The coin pictured is the reverse (mule side) of a 1928/7-M Twenty Centavos Mule, graded PCGS AU55, which I purchased for $250.00 ($287.50 with buyer's premium) in last Sunday's Teletrade auction (Auction 3347 - Sunday, September 16, 2012 - Lot 2622). Although I paid slightly more than book value I really liked the eye appeal of this well struck problem free Choice AU specimen and it will make a nice place holder until I can afford a higher grade example. In AU55 this coin has a Combined PCGS/NGC Population of 2/52.

 

With 1490 Registry Points this specimen will made a nice addition to my "Twenty Centavos" Registry Set: http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=51345&Ranking=all

 

Since the 1928/7-M Mule is an intentional design change from the regular 1907 -- 1929 Twenty Centavos I have also added this coin to my Custom "USA/Philippines Type Set (Expanded Edition)": http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=9238

 

I have also added the 1928/7 Mule to my "United States Manila Mint" Custom Registry Set: https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=1113

 

See more journals by JAA USA/Philippines Collection

[coinsbygary]

Interesting history on those amazing mules. Congratulations on your Teletrade pickup.

Gary

[nunfa0]

Great post!!