Owner Comments:
KM-9 - Culion Leper Colony 1920 10 Centavos - Mintage:20,000
Struck in Aluminum with a diameter of 28.8mm.
McFadden #: 759
Basso #: 231
Shafer #: SL-7
This coin is part of the second series of coins issued for use in the Culion Leper Colony and among the first to be minted at the then new U.S. branch mint in Manila. Like all of the regular issue coins issued by the Manila mint in 1920, they carry no mint mark. The design is essentially the same as that of the first series issued in 1913 by the private firm of Frank & Company in Manila. The obverse is composed of the denomination surrounded by the text "CULION LEPER COLONY" above and "PHILIPPINE ISLANDS" below. The reverse consists of a rather crude rendering of a Caduceus as the central element surrounded by the words "BUREAU OF HEALTH," two separating stars and the date. All of the reference sources (except McFadden) designate the obverse and reverse this way, but NGC places the reverse facing the front of the holder. I personally prefer the NGC designation, but will go with the majority of reference books for consistency. Like the first series, these coins were also minted in Aluminum, but were ever so slightly reduced in diameter from 29 to 28.8mm.
This coin is mislabeled on the NGC holder as KM-8 (which is the 1913 10 Centavo coin). I suspect, but can not prove that the KM numbers in use at the time this coin was graded were different than those in use today, so at the time it was graded, the number was probably correct.
All of the coinage for the Culion Leper Colony was well circulated and mint state specimens are extremely rare. So rare, in fact that the Krause only lists prices for grades up through XF40. As of this revision, this is the only 1920 10 Centavo coin to have been graded and encapsulated by NGC.
Varieties: None reported for this date and denomination.
Date acquired: 9/23/2012 (Already graded by NGC)
References:
• "United States Territorial Coinage for the Philippine Islands" by Neil Shafer, Whitman Publishing Company Racine, Wisconsin, 1961: 41-45
• "Coins, Medals and Tokens of the Philippines 1728-1974" by Aldo P. Basso, second edition Bookman Printing House, Quezon City, 1975: 76-80
• "The Numismatic Aspects of Leprosy" by R.R. McFadden, J. Grost, and D.F. Marr, D.C. McDonald Associates, Inc., 1993: 58-69
• "Standard Catalog of World Coins" by Krause & Mischler (Identifies coins by their "KM" numbers 1-18 and A5.)
Rev. 12/24/2015