Owner Comments:
Lyman Allen #11.19 (KM #170) - Mintage: 1,970,000 (1,885,000 released to the Treasury)
Released by the Mint to the Treasury in 1929: 825,000
Released by the Mint to the Treasury in 1930: 720,000
Released by the Mint to the Treasury in 1931: 340,000
Unaccounted for by the Mint:..................................85,000
The 1929M 20 Centavos is not particularly rare, but it has an interesting history and several easily identifiable varieties.
According to the 1929 Philippine Treasury report, the mint operated for the full year to meet an increased demand that began late in 1928. Many 20 centavo coins were probably struck early in the year, transferred to the Treasury and released into circulation fairly quickly. Demand must not have been as strong as anticipated though, because by the end of 1929, only 825,000 of the 1,970,000 reported struck had been transferred to the Treasury for release into circulation.
The section of the 1930 Treasury report about the Philippine Mint activities provides an explanation of why when it states that
The weighing of the balance of the 20-centavo coins minted in 1929, which for lack of time could not be weighed in the automatic weighing machine, was completed this year. The mint superintendent goes on to state that PhP68,000.00 (representing 340,000 coins) of the 1929 20 centavos remain in the custody of the mint at the end of 1930. Although it is not explicitly stated, the implication is that during the course of 1930, 805,000 more of the 1929 20 centavos had been transferred to the Treasury for release into circulation. The treasury accounting section reports however that only 720,000 20 centavo coins were transferred to the Treasury in 1930, Doing the math, this leaves 85,000 1929M 20 Centavo coins unaccounted for. The 1931 Treasury report does not address this issue, and only shows the final 340,000 20 centavo coins being transferred to the Treasury. Subsequent Treasure reports never address the missing 85,000 coins. The number struck by the mint remains 1,970,000, but the Treasury only officially received 1,885,000 for release into circulation. We may never discover a definitive explanation for the discrepancy, but there are several possibilities.
- The initial mintage may have been incorrectly reported.
- The number of 20 centavos held in the treasury began growing substantially in 1931, so the 85,000 20 centavo coins may have languished in the mint vaults only to be melted as feed stock for later silver coinage beginning in 1935.
- 85,000 coins may have simply disappeared from the mint in 1930.
Many varieties of this coin exist, and it is actually difficult to find a decent example of a
normal coin! This one is very nearly mint state, but just not quite there. I suspected this when I sent it in, but was hoping for the best.
Allen Varieties
ALLEN-11.19 - Normal date and mint mark.
ALLEN-11.19a - RPM M/M. (This variety is illusive at best. Neither NGC nor PCGS have certified an example of this variety.)
ALLEN-11.19b - Triple punched "2" aka 2/2/2 Both NGC and PCGS have certified examples of this variety.
ALLEN-11.19c - RPD 9 aka 1929/9 - Both NGC and PCGS have certified examples of this variety.
Date acquired: 9/24/2006
Date graded: 1/3/2013 (self submitted to NGC)
Rev. 8/23/2022