Owner Comments:
Official Mintage: 2,430,327.
Type 2: "bucles" ("curly haired"). Portrait of Alfonso XIII at age 5. Engraved by Gregorio Sellán.
PGM = Peiró, Garcia, Mendoza.
Few Type 2 coins survive. Very rare.
According to José María Aledón ("La Peseta, Catálogo Básico," p.100), most 20-peseta pieces minted in 1892 used Type 1 ("pelón") dies from 1890 and dated 1890. When the new Type 2 ("bucles") dies finally arrived at the mint at year's end, only a few thousand pieces ("sólo unos pocos millares de piezas") dated 1892 were minted. The exact figure is unknown. The Official Mintage for 1892 (2,430,327) includes both issues, Type 1 (dated 1890) and Type 2 (dated 1892).
In the rush to production, quality control for Type 2 suffered.
The reverse side has die or striking anomalies: the fleurs-de-lis, castle stones, and Aragon stripes and dots are blotchy. High magnification reveals they are not worn but fully textured. These anomalies are repeated in catalogue pictures of other Mint State examples of Type 2, including in Krause-Mishler.
Similarly, the rim contours are from hasty production, not from handling. For example, above the E in "G. DE DIOS," the rim depression is from the edge fleur-de-lis* being struck slightly too low and interfering with the obverse rim.
*NOTE: All 20- and 25-peseta Alfonso gold coins have fleurs-de-lis embossed on the edge using a triple-segment collar: 18 fleurs-de-lis in three segments on 20-peseta coins, and 27 in three segments on 25-peseta coins. For a clear picture and explanation of the edge fleurs-de-lis, please refer to my Custom Set for Restrikes, at the coin 1876(76) 25 Pesetas Restrike.