Colombia-Numismatics · Santander

20 centavos coin, 1902

20 centavos · Santander · 1902

A 1902 brass necessity piece of the State of Santander. The obverse carries SANTANDER, 20, and the date; the reverse is incuse and reversed.

Catalog facts

Reference: KM# A2 · Restrepo 387 · Hernández Cód. 325 · Numista N#48341
Year: 1902
Metal: Brass (type specification)
Mint: Bucaramanga (type; no mint mark on the disc)
Condition: Circulated, unslabbed. SANTANDER, 20, and 1902 read on the obverse; the reverse is incuse and reversed. Green and brown patina, uneven strike. Photographs do not authenticate the metal (private collection)

Obverse: SANTANDER in an arc, 20 in the center, and the date 1902.

Incuse reverse: the same legend, recessed and mirrored. 20 reads as 02 and 1902 as 2001.

The piece

In 1902 the State of Santander issued a one-faced brass necessity coin, later called a coscoja. This disc shows, on the obverse, SANTANDER in an arc, 20 in the center, and the date 1902. The reverse has no die of its own: the blow passes through the sheet, and the legend is left incuse and mirrored, so that 20 reads as 02 and 1902 as 2001. It is type KM# A2, Restrepo 387, and Hernández Cód. 325 (8th ed. 2023), Numista N#48341. The catalogue lettering is SANTANDER C 20 1902. Numista gives brass, 0.7 g, a diameter of 20 mm, and medal alignment. The edge, as on the 50 centavos of the series, is plain. Those are type figures: this specimen was not weighed or measured. General Ramón González Valencia, civil and military chief of the department, authorized the issue on 19 July 1902. The notes place the work in the workshop of the Penagos brothers, in Bucaramanga, using rifle-cartridge cases gathered after Palonegro (11–25 May 1900). Unlike the 10 centavos, which carries no date, this 20 centavos carries 1902. An undated 20-centavo model that was not adopted is known; this disc is not that model. The same series includes the 10 and the 50 centavos; each is on another record. It is not the national silver 20 centavos of those years. Unslabbed. The green and brown patina and the uneven strike belong to cartridge brass. The photographs do not authenticate the metal.

Scarcity

Numista does not publish a mintage. The notes “Las monedas sangrientas”, already cited on the coscojas page, give 130,500 pieces of 20 centavos within the 750,000 pesos authorized. That is not a Banco de la República figure: BanRep’s coin tables begin in 1987. Numista publishes a rarity index of 91, calculated from its members’ collections. This record publishes neither prices nor a slab census.