JAA USA/Philippines Complete Collection
20C 1904

Owner Comments:

The obverse design by Melicio Figueroa 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 reverse design, also by Melicio Figueroa, depicts an eagle with spread wings perched atop an American shield. The Large (23 mm) Twenty Centavos minted from 1903 through 1906 had a weight of 5.385 Grams of .900 Silver. 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 Large 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. Business strikes were coined at the Philadelphia Mint in 1903 and 1904 and the San Francisco Mint from 1903 through 1905. Proofs of the Large Twenty Centavos were made in very limited quantities at the Philadelphia Mint from 1903 through 1906. No silver coins were produced for circulation at the Philadelphia Mint in 1904. All of the Ten Centavos, Twenty Centavos, Fifty Centavos, and Pesos struck that year were made to fill an order for SPECIAL MINT SETS that were sold at the Philippine Exibit at the 1904 World Fair. 10,00 of these SPECIAL MINT SETS were produced. Only 3,254 sets were sold at the World Fair. The Philippine Treasury sold another 500 sets and the remaining 6.246 sets were then put into general circulation.The NGC population on the 1904 Twenty Centavos in MS-64 is 11 coins with 19 specimens graded higher. The combined (NGC, PCGS, ANACS) population is 30/24. This specimen is a well struck and has attractive battleship gray toning with iridescent underlying luster.