Owner Comments:
Ecuador - 1944D -20 Centavos - (KM-77.1a, EC #191) - Mintage: 15,000,000
Brass (80% copper, 20% zinc)
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.
Obverse
These coins were minted for the "Republica Del Ecuador" by the Denver mint during World War II probably using brass recovered from spent artillery shell casings. The Denver mint only produced coins for Ecuador in 1944 in denominations of 5 and 20 Centavos. These are the only coins produced for Ecuador that carry a traditional single letter mint mark with the "D" appearing on the reverse at the top of the coin. 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 freighter 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
20 CENTAVOS surrounded by a Laurel wreath. The Denver mint mark is centered at the top.
This coin
This coin is a two year type with a very substantial mintage, but high grade, untarnished, uncirculated specimens are difficult to obtain.
Date acquired: 12/13/2015 (raw coin)
Date graded: 3/3/2016 (self submitted to NGC)
References:
Seppa, Dale and Anderson, Michael,
the COINS of ECUADOR (second edition), Almanzar's Coins of the World, San Antonio, 1973.
Rev. 9/27/2017