Owner Comments:
Ecuador - 1918 - 5 Centavos - (KM #60.2, EC #131) - Mintage: 7,980,000
Ecuador began adopting a decimal coinage system in 1874 with the minting of one and two centavo coins at the Mint in Birmingham, England. The transition was completed on March 22, 1884 with the creation of the silver
sucre coin which was equivalent to 100 centavos. The sucre remained the official unit of currency in Ecuador for 116 years until the President of Ecuador announced on January 9, 2000 that the US dollar would be adopted as Ecuador's official currency.
These coins were minted for the "Repuplica Del Ecuador" by the Philadelphia mint and were only minted in 1917 and 1918. The 1918 issue outnumbers the 1917 issue by nearly a factor of 7. Despite the significantly higher mintage, these coins circulated heavily and are nearly as difficult to acquire in mint state as the 1917.
Obverse
These coins were minted for the "Republica Del Ecuador" by the Philadelphia mint, however no mint marks were used on the minor coinage produced for Ecuador in Philadelphia. Ecuador dictated the various elements that of their coat of arms, but the actual rendering of these elements by the various mints which produced their coins can vary greatly from mint to mint. In this case the central elements of the ship, water and mountain look more like an ocean going vessel sailing away from a mountainous coastline rather than the river steamship
Guayas, sailing the Guayas river with the snow capped Chimborazo volcano in the distant background. There is also no Caduceus appearing as a mast on the ship, an aspect which seems to have eluded all but one mint. The following is a depiction of the 1841 steamship
Guayas for comparison:
Reverse
The reverse of this coin is very simple, containing only the denomination
CINCO CENTAVOS (5 Centavos) surrounded by a Laurel wreath.
This coin
This is a spectacular looking coin in hand and has nearly prooflike surfaces. All of the lettering and devices are sharp and exceptionally well defined. The high point detail is exceptional. Note specifically the head and texturing of the neck of the condor on the obverse. The sun, side of the ship and the ocean waves are also fully struck and highly detailed. Based on the surface luster and crisp details, this coin was obviously struck from a fresh pair of dies. There are very few marks on the devices or fields. The only distracting element is the streaky planchet, but this is a very common characteristic of copper nickel coins struck by the U.S. mints from 1917-1919. The grade is well deserved.
Date acquired: 5/3/2016 (raw coin)
Date graded: 9/28/2016 (self submitted to NGC)
Date regraded: 9/4/2018 (resubmitted to NGC)
References:
Seppa, Dale and Anderson, Michael,
the COINS of ECUADOR (second edition), Almanzar's Coins of the World, San Antonio, 1973.
Rev. 9/5/2018