Owner Comments:
Lyman Allen #19.00 (KM #177) - Mintage 10,000
THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES was founded on November 15th, 1935. To commemorate this historic event, a set of three coins containing one 50 Centavo piece and 2 different One Peso pieces was minted at the Manila Mint. The issue price for this set was $3.13USD! Despite the historical significance, low mintage of 10,000 sets and the low issue price, many sets remained unsold and languished in the Philippine Treasury. When the Japanese invaded in 1941, the vast majority of these unsold sets were dumped into the Pacific Ocean to keep them from falling into enemy hands. This is the reason that so many of these coins exhibit damage due to prolonged exposure to salt water and are thus described as “sea salvaged.”
These three coins were the first to bear the new Commonwealth reverse which was applied to all production coins beginning in 1937. The obverse of this coin depicts the overlapping busts of the first Philippine President Manual L. Quezon in the foreground and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the background. This was only the second time a living U.S. President had appeared on a coin minted by the United States. As a commemorative issue, these coins are typically very well struck.
This particular coin is heavily toned, but still a nice looking specimen.
Date acquired: 9/29/2007 (raw coin)
Date graded: 12/23/2013 (self submitted to NGC)
Rev. 1/2/2016