Owner Comments:
Lyman Allen #2.21 (KM #163) - Mintage: 3,519,100
Despite the lack of a mint mark, these coins were minted at the U.S. Branch mint in Manila. This is the last of the three years that no mint mark was placed on coins minted at the Manila mint. The one centavo coin was the only denomination minted by the Manila mint in 1922 (with the exception of 18,435 coins for the Culion Leper Colony) and no coins of any denomination were minted in Manila in 1923 or 1924. When minting resumed in 1925, the "M" mint mark was added.
High grade examples of this date, while not plentiful, can be had, although full red specimens are very rare. As of this revision, NGC has graded no full red coins.
This coin exhibits a much better strike than normal for the early Manila mint issues. The shield on the reverse is full and well defined even on the left side. The obverse shows good definition in the hair and ear, and even some definition of the fingers on the right hand although not complete. It should also be noted from the images that the coin exhibits a slight die rotation.
There are virtually no contact marks in the fields or devices on either side of the coin. Even the right leg on the obverse has no marks or scratches on it which would lower the grade, so it's really unclear to me why it did not receive a numeric grade higher than MS63. It looks like a 64 to me.
Varieties: None cataloged for this year.
Date acquired: 9/26/2008 (raw coin)
Date graded: 9/26/2012 (self submitted to NGC, encapsulated in the NGC Scratch Resistant Holder)
Rev. 12/27/2015