Owner Comments:
Lyman Allen #4.08b (KM #173) - 5 Centavo obverse muled with 20 Centavo reverse
Regular Mintage: 2,780,000 (variety mintage unknown)
This is one of the key coins to the entire US/Philippine series. I purchased this coin raw in 2006 and finally sent it in for grading seven years later. Unfortunately this coin, like many other US/Philippine coins has been cleaned, leaving hairline scratches on the surface.
This coin is a mule of the 1918-S 20 Centavo reverse die with the 5 Centavo obverse on a copper-nickel 5 Centavo planchet. Unlike the 1928-M 20 Centavo mule which was intentionally struck, this mule was not and consequently very few examples exist. The 5 centavo dies were only 0.5mm smaller than the 20 centavo dies in 1918, and the reverse designs were also very similar, so it's easy to see how this mule could have been inadvertently created. The most distinctive difference between the two is the size of the date. The date on the normal 5 Centavo reverse is much larger. The shield on the normal 5 Centavos coin is also broader than that of the mule.
Allen Varieties
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4.08 - Normal die pair
4.08a - Re-punched date
4.08aa - S/S Re-punched mint mark
4.08b - 5 Centavo obverse muled with 20 Centavo reverse - this coin
Date acquired: 5/13/2006 (raw coin)
Date graded: 8/7/2013 (self submitted to NGC)
Rev. 12/21/2015