Owner Comments:
Ecuador - 1942(P) 20 Centavos - (KM #77.1a, EC #190) - Mintage: 5,000,000
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.
This coin was minted by the Philadelphia Mint using brass most likely recovered from spent artillery shell casings. Half of the mintage of this coin was listed in the U.S. Mint report of 1943, however all are dated 1942.
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 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.
This coin
This is a beautifu, lvery flashy coin with spectacular eye appeal. If brass coins could receive a "Red" designation, this one would have it. As of this revision, there is only one graded higher by NGC at MS66+..
Date Acquired: 4/17/2016 (Already graded by NGC)
References:
Seppa, Dale and Anderson, Michael,
the COINS of ECUADOR (second edition), Almanzar's Coins of the World, San Antonio, 1973.
Rev. 2/29/2024