USPI-20C
Private
Updated:
12/6/2023
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The basic U.S. Philippine Twenty Centavo series is a set of 33 coins, each with a distinct history and many with one or more varieties, two of which have been included in the definition of this set. Completing the basic set of 33 is challenging, but completing the set with all coins in MS60 or higher can be insurmountable for even the most advanced collectors. Present set owner included. The U.S. Philippine Twenty Centavos set is easily THE most difficult set to complete of all of the U.S. Philippine sets.
The U.S. Philippine 10 and 20 Centavo coins were very popular with the public from the first day they were issued. Unlike the the Half Centavo and the Five Centavos coins the 10 and 20 Centavos coins circulated well because they were familiar denominations and were similar in size and weight to the Spanish/Philippine coinage that had preceded them. The general public liked these coins and they used them, which is why some dates are almost impossible to find in an uncirculated state.
Recoinage took it's toll on the early coins in this series as well. Silver prices began rising in 1905 and by November 1905, had risen past the face value of all of the silver coinage. Only a small number of one peso coins were minted in 1906, and in 1907 the size and weight of all of the silver coins was reduced. The early silver coinage was withdrawn from circulation as quickly as possible and coining of the new 20 centavos began in Philadelphia and San Francisco very early in 1907. By 1941, roughly 85% of all of the 20 Centavos struck for circulation in 1903, 1904, and 1905 were melted and recoined by the government alone. The maximum survival rate for these is at most 15% of the original mintage. The coins struck between 1907 and 1935 suffered some recoinage when the reverse design changed in 1937, but the number recoined was less than 1% of all that had been minted. A survival estimate is provided for each of the coins struck for general circulation in 1903, 1904 and 1905.
This set is comprised of three distinct coin types which correspond to the major Allen identifying numbers 10, 11, and 12.
Allen-10.01 - 10.07 (1903-1906)
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The design and physical characteristics of the first 9 coins in this set were specified by the Philippine Organic act passed on July 1, 1902 and an act of the US Congress passed into law on March 2, 1903. Interestingly, only three of these were issued for general circulation. Four were issued in proof for collectors, and the 1904(P) non-proof was issued only to be included in a 7 coin set to be sold in the Philippine Exhibit at the St. Louis Worlds Fair. The physical characteristics of the original 20 centavos were as follows:
Composition....0.9000 fine silver (balance in copper)
Total Weight ....5.3849 grams (83.10 grains)
ASW...................0.155813 troy oz.
Diameter..........23.0 mm
Edge..................Reeded
All of the 20 centavo coins struck between 1903 and 1906 were struck from purchased silver and silver reclaimed from a variety of silver coins that had been circulating in the Philippines prior to 1903. These were primarily Spanish and Mexican pesos and minor coins, but also included other South American and Asian silver coins.
Allen-11.01 - 11.19 (1907-1929)
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The majority of the set is composed of the reduced size and weight 20 centavos struck from 1907 through 1929. The basic design was the same as for the earlier coins, but the physical specifications were redefined by Act No. 1564 of the Philippine Commission necessitated by the rising price of silver. The act was passed into law on December 6, 1906 and applied for all coins minted from 1907 on. The reduced size and weight specifications were as follows:
Composition....0.7500 fine silver (balance in copper)
Total Weight ....4.0000 grams (61.7294 grains)
ASW...................0.0.096452 troy oz.
Diameter..........20.0 mm
Edge..................Reeded
An added benefit of the reduced silver content was the seigniorage created. Nearly 162 new 20 centavos were produced for every 100 early 20 centavos recoined. Not counting the shipping and minting costs, the Philippine Government earned a nearly 62% profit on every early 20 centavo recoined!
Beginning in 1907, the primary source of silver was the first generation silver coins that were being withdrawn from circulation. Most of the pre-1903 silver coinage had been withdrawn from circulation by August of 1905, but small amounts continued to trickle in through 1929! It too was melted and recoined into U.S. Philippine silver coins. The majority of the first generation coins had been recoined by 1913, although as they continued to trickle in to the banks, they were withdrawn from circulation and sent to the treasury for recoinage. The number of coins struck each year was based on demand. As the treasury reserves became depleted of any given denomination, an order was sent for the striking of additional coinage. The number that could be struck however was limited by the availability of silver on account for the Philippines. With the expanded number of coins available due to the size and weight reduction, and relatively low demand from 1913 through most of 1916, the demand for new coins did not exceed the supply of silver on hand. This all changed in 1917.
Until 1917, the San Francisco mint had been able to keep up with the demand for new Philippine coinage. With the United States entry into World War I on April 16, 1917, domestic demand for U.S. silver coinage rose dramatically and U.S. Mint resources became strained. The Philadelphia mint was producing more foreign coins than usual for Central and South American countries in order to fill the void left by the incapacitated European mints, and the San Francisco Mint was having to produce more domestic coinage to satisfy the increased wartime demand. In the Philippines, the increased world demand for raw materials such as hemp for rope, coconut oil, tobacco, and sugar all caused an unprecedented economic boom which increased the demand for circulating coinage in 1917. Silver prices began rising in 1916 and it seemed very likely that they would cause the bullion value of the reduced size and weight silver coinage to exceed it's face value. This happened briefly in September 1917 when the bullion value of the 20 centavos coin rose to 22 centavos. This caused hoarding by the public and possibly exportation and melting of all denominations of silver coinage. The coin shortage became so severe that the Philippine National Bank even printed fractional currency notes in denominations of 10, 20, and 50 centavos in the fall of 1917. Silver prices receded slightly for the next seven months, but again rose past the par value of the silver coinage in April 1918 and remained above par value until June 1920. Silver prices peaked in January 1920 at which time the 20 centavos coin had a bullion value of 26 centavos. Laws were enacted by the Philippine legislature to keep the coinage in the county. Enforcement was actually very effective and relatively few of the silver coins of the period were exported or melted locally. Hoarding was however a significant contributing factor to the disappearance of circulating silver coinage.
The supply of silver from the first generation coinage was exhausted by 1917, and demand was high for additional coinage. The restrictions on how much silver bullion had to remain in the treasury to back the paper currency had been reduced, so the solution to the silver shortage was to begin using the second generation pesos as the feed stock for producing additional minor coinage. Roughly 1.7 million of the 1907-1912 silver pesos where melted and recoined by the San Francisco mint in 1917 alone. Some additional seigniorage was also attained due to the lower fineness of the minor coinage relative to the pesos. From 1917 on, virtually ALL silver coinage struck at the mints in San Francisco and Manila was recoined from reduced size and weight silver pesos that had been struck between 1907 and 1912.
Allen-12.01 - 12.05 (1937-1945)
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The design of the reverse was changed when the Insular territory of the Philippines became The Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935. The Commonwealth reverse was designed by Ambrosio Morales for the 1936 commemorative Pesos and Fifty Centavos. Beginning in 1937 the shield and eagle symbolizing the United States was replaced with the coat of arms for the Commonwealth of the Philippines on all circulating coins. The physical specifications remained the same as the previous type.
State of this set
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This set became 100% complete in March 2016 with the addition of a details graded 1914S, a coin which has been upgraded twice since then. There have been ten upgrades since then, including upgrading that aforementioned 1914S to an MS 63. Other notable upgrades were the MS62 1916S tilted 6, the 1920 MS63, the 1911S AU58, the 1910S AU55, and finally the 1907S MS63. In December 2023 the 1938M was upgraded to MS65, unfortunately in a PCGS holder. Just under 50% of the set are NGC graded coins. Not enough enough to qualify it for consideration by NGC for an award, but progress none the less.
The current state was reached in December 2023. Eight of the 33 coins in this set still remain in a circulated state, so there is still much work to do. The ultimate goal of having a complete set of uncirculated coins remains, but considering this is the most difficult set (next to the Pesos) to complete in uncirculated grades, it is a lofty goal.
References:
• "U.S./Philippine Coins" by Lyman L. Allen 7th Edition 2012 updated and edited by Tom Culhane, Union NJ, 2012
• "U.S./Philippine Coins" by Lyman L. Allen 6th Edition 2008-2009 published by Lyman Allen Rare Coins Virginia City, NV 2007
• "United States Territorial Coinage for the Philippine Islands" by Neil Shafer, Whitman Publishing Company Racine, Wisconsin, 1961
• "Coins, Medals and Tokens of the Philippines 1728-1974" by Aldo P. Basso, second edition Bookman Printing House, Quezon City, 1975
• "The Rarity Book, United States Administration Coinage for the Philippines 1903-1946" ’94-’95 edition by Jeffrey A. Springsteen 1994
• "Foreign Coins Struck at United States Mints" by Charles G. Altz and E. H. Barton, Whitman Publishing Company Racine, Wisconsin, 1965
• "Domestic and Foreign Coins Manufactured by Mints of the United States 1793-1980", Department of the treasury, Bureau of the Mint, 1981
• "Stability of International Exchange" - Document No. 144 of the 58th Congress, 2nd Session of the House of Representatives published on December 17, 1903
-- (page 414, "The Execution of the Philippine Coinage Act." prepared by Col. Clarence R. Edwards, Chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs.)
Rev. 12/5/2023
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USPI-20C
By coin928
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