Owner Comments:
In 1906 the Bureau of Health for the U.S. Territory of the Philippines established a colony for leper patients on the small island of Culion in the China Sea. For health reasons, the decision was made that the leper colony should have a separate coinage of its own which would not circulate in the rest of the Philippines.
One of the fascinating features of the monetary system in the leper colony was the strict regulations which separated the circulation of government coinage and the special "Leper Coins". In the colony proper "Leper Money" was the only legal medium of exchange. Government coinage was not allowed within the colony and non-lepers that did business in the colony had to exchange their "Government Money" for "Leper Money" before they entered the colony. When they exited the colony they exchanged their "Leper Money" for "Government Money". In this way "Leper Money" only circulated within the colony. The police strictly enforced these regulations and violators were subject to a fine of not more than Fifteen Pesos, imprisonment of up to one month or both.
The first issue of "Leper Money" consisted of Half Centavo, One Centavo, Five Centavos, Ten Centavos, Twenty Centavos, and One Peso coins which were struck in aluminum by the firm of Frank and Company, Manila in 1913. The common obverse design was a "Caduceus" surrounded by the inscription "Bureau Of Health" at the top and the date below. The reverse used a simple inscription of value as its central design. "Culion Leper Colony" was inscribed at the top, and "Philippine Islands" below. The 1913 issue carried no mint marks.
It is thought that the 1913 Culion Leper Colony Half Centavo was never put into circulation. Unlike the other 1913 denominations, that are scarce to rare in any grade, the 1913 Half Centavo is commonly found in Mint State.
SPECIFICATIONS
Mint: Frank and Company (Manila)
Mint Mark: None
Mintage: 17,000
Catalog: KM-1
Composition: Aluminum
Diameter: 19.5mm
NGC Population: 1/0 (A NGC Top Pop Coin)