Owner Comments:
Lyman Allen #10.03 (KM #166) - Mintage 10,000 (estimated survival 5,042 coins)
General
Twenty Centavo coins were not minted for general circulation by the Philadelphia mint in 1904, but 10,000 uncirculated seven coin sets were ordered by the well known numismatist Farran Zerbe to be sold at the Philippine Exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in1904. Supply far exceeded demand for these uncirculated sets, and only 3,254 were sold at the exposition. The remaining 6,746 sets were shipped to the Philippines where another 500 were sold by the Treasury. The 6,246 unsold sets were ultimately broken up and released into general circulation. The mintage for this coin is the smallest in the series, save for the five Proof coins, however their survival in uncirculated grades is quite high due to their having been released in a special set. The U.S. mint even acknowledged their special nature by identifying them as "proof" coins. Their relative survival calculation is also different than others in the set, coming in at just slightly over 50%
The survival rate for the these coins is amazingly high compared to the rest of the early U.S. Philippine silver coins primarily because they were intended for sale directly to collectors. Consequently, it is one of the easier 20 centavos to obtain in high mint state.
This coin
This coin is a lightly toned, reasonably well preserved example of this rare date..
Varieties
None cataloged for this year.
Date acquired: 11/7/2012 (already graded by PCGS)
References
- Shafer, N. "United States Territorial Coinage for the Philippine Islands." Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman Publishing Company, 1961.
Rev 12/15/2020