Owner Comments:
Lyman Allen #2.18 (KM #163) - Mintage: 2,500,000
This is the last of the One Centavo coins to be minted in San Francisco with the Territorial Reverse. Since the production of One Centavo coins also began in Manila in 1920, the quantity minted in San Francisco was significantly less than in preceding years. With only 2.5 million minted, these coins are quite difficult to obtain in mint state. So difficult in fact that, as of this revision date, no Red or Red Brown examples are listed in the NGC population report.
The reverse of this coin exhibits the streaking typical of many copper coins struck at the San Francisco mint between 1908 and 1924. While predominantly brown, it still displays hints of pale, brassy coloring and the so-called "woodgrain" streaks running diagonally across the reverse. This color and streaking can be attributed to either impurities in the alloy or concentrations of copper that did not mix completely with the tin and zinc. When the ingots were rolled into strips for blanking, these impurities or concentrations became elongated and appeared as streaks in the coins when they began to tone.
This brown coin is an exceptional example of this difficult issue. and It has great eye appeal. There are only four finer graded by NGC in MS65BN.
Varieties: None cataloged for this year.
Date acquired: 12/19/2011 (raw coin)
Date graded: 9/26/2012 (self submitted to NGC, encapsulated in the NGC Scratch Resistant Holder)
References:
- "San Francisco Mint Cents 1908-24" posted by David Lange, NGC Research Director on July 1, 2003 (http://www.ngccoin.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?IDArticle=726)
Rev. 12/10/2015