Alfonso XIII 20 Pesetas
1889(89) MPM

Obverse:

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Reverse:

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Coin Details

Origin/Country: SPAIN 1848 TO DATE
Item Description: G20P 1889(89) MPM
Full Grade: NGC MS 64
Owner: JohnA

Set Details

Custom Sets: This coin is not in any custom sets.
Competitive Sets: Alfonso XIII 20 Pesetas   Score: 1583
Research: NGC Coin Price Guide
NGC World Coin Census

Owner Comments:

Mintage: 875,333.
Type 1: "pelón" ("bald headed"). Portrait of Alfonso XIII from 1887 as a 1-year-old infant. Engraved by Gregorio Sellán.
MPM = Morejón, Peiró, Mendoza.

Reverse side is exceptionally well struck.

Posthumous heir of Alfonso XII (died November 25, 1885), Alfonso XIII was declared king at birth (May 17, 1886). His reign lasted until 1931 when he fled Spain during a republican uprising. He did not abdicate. He died in Rome in exile in 1941. The newly formed Republic devolved into civil war that ended with General Francisco Franco's monarchist victory in 1939, but Franco retained power ("El Caudillo") until his death in 1975. Two days after Franco's death, Alfonso XIII's grandson Juan Carlos became king of Spain in accordance with the law of succession promulgated by Franco.

The 20-peseta gold coin was set to debut in 1887. The Spanish government had authorized the minting, and dies had been made and sent to the mint. But because of a national gold reserve shortage at the time, no coins were actually minted in 1887, or in 1888 either*. The first general-issue 20-peseta coins were minted in 1889 (example above). The unused 1887 dies remained in storage and were finally used in 1961 and 1962 for the Official Restrikes of the 20-peseta coin. A similar situation arose in 1896, when minting of Type 3 20-peseta coins was authorized and dies made, but no coins were minted until 1899, and the 1896 dies stayed in storage for over sixty years until they were used for the Official Restrikes.

*Three very rare examples of original 1887(87) 20-peseta coins are known to exist. One, from the Laureano Figuerola collection, was sold at auction by Aureo & Calicó in Barcelona on 16/Dec/2021 for €85,000 plus 18% commission.

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