Puerto Rico · Provincial coinage
10 Centavos coin, apparent date 1895
10 Centavos · Alfonso XIII · apparent date 1895
Silver 10 centavos of Puerto Rico’s provincial coinage, with the boy Alfonso XIII’s bust and the initials P·G·V. The photograph shows 1895, but the catalogued type is dated 1896: attribution pending. No serial and unslabbed.
Catalog facts
- Year
- 1895
- Apparent date in the photograph. The 10 centavos type is dated 1896.
- Mint
- Madrid (per the type); no mint mark. Officials P·G·V
- Denomination
- 10 centavos of the provincial peso
- Composition
- Silver. Type: .900 per Numista and Greysheet; the English Wikipedia table gives .835. Not an assay of this specimen.
- Weight
- Not weighed. Type: 2.5 g (Numista, Greysheet).
- Diameter
- Not measured. Type: 18 mm (Numista, Greysheet).
- Edge
- Reeded (Numista / Greysheet type specification). This specimen’s edge was not photographed.
- Condition
- Unslabbed. Circulation wear to the hair, ear, and arms; fine hairlines in the obverse fields; reverse toned a darker grey. Legends readable. Not a numerical grade.
- References
- cf. KM#21 · cf. Numista N#17450 · cf. PCGS#976903
- References for the type dated 1896, cited with cf. (compare). They are not assigned to this specimen until the date is verified on the coin.
Obverse
Reverse
The coin
This piece is a silver 10 centavos of Puerto Rico’s provincial coinage. The obverse shows the bust of the boy Alfonso XIII facing left, with the legend ALFONSO XIII P.L.G.D.D. REY C. DE ESPAÑA and, below the neck truncation, the initials B·M of engraver Bartolomé Maura y Montaner. Between the stars at the foot, the photograph shows the date 1895. The reverse carries the crowned arms of Spain between the Pillars of Hercules, the legend ISLA DE PUERTO RICO above and 10 CENTAVOS below, flanked by P·G· at left and ·V· at right. Numista, Greysheet, and EnciclopediaPR record the 10 centavos only with the date 1896 (KM#21, N#17450, PCGS#976903); in 1895 only the peso and the 20 centavos were dated. The record therefore cites those references with cf. and does not yet assign KM#21. The date has not been examined under magnification on the coin, and the photograph alone cannot tell an altered date, a counterfeit or reproduction, a retouched image, or an unpublished piece apart.
Legends
- Obverse
- ALFONSO XIII P.L.G.D.D. REY C. DE ESPAÑA · ★ 1895 ★ (date as read in the photograph; the type carries ★ 1896 ★) — “Alfonso XIII, by the grace of God, constitutional king of Spain.” Below the bust: B·M.
- Reverse
- ISLA DE PUERTO RICO · P·G· 10 CENTAVOS ·V· (officials Peiró, García, and Vega). The type’s PLUS ULTRA ribbons are not legible in the photograph.
History
The royal decree of 17 August 1895 exchanged the island’s Mexican silver for the 1-peso exchange note, and that paper for provincial coin struck in Madrid. Five denominations were struck; per EnciclopediaPR, the peso and the 20 centavos are dated 1895 and the rest 1896. The 1896 10 centavos ran to 700,000 pieces (Spanish Wikipedia, Numista, Greysheet). After the 1898 Treaty of Paris the provincial silver ran beside the dollar until withdrawal; Numista records it as demonetized on 12 April 1900. No hammer and no slab census are published here.
Scarcity and type
The 10 centavos has a single catalogued date, 1896 P·G·V, with 700,000 pieces: the second-smallest mintage of the series, after the 5 centavos (600,000). None of the references consulted records an 1895 10 centavos. Until the date is verified, this record presents it neither as an unpublished variety nor as an ordinary KM#21. No rarity index and no auction prices are published.
Certification
The example is raw, with no NGC, PCGS, or other holder, and the type carries no serial number. The identity of this record is the photographed object. To settle the date, the disc should be weighed and measured — the 10 centavos type is 2.5 g and 18 mm; the 20 centavos, 5 g and 23 mm — the last digit examined under magnification, and, if the anomaly holds, the piece sent for authentication. If it is slabbed, the cert number will replace this note.
Sources
- Numista — 10 Centavos, Alfonso XIII, Puerto Rico 1896 (N#17450) (opens in a new tab)
KM#21; .900 silver, 2.5 g, 18 mm, reeded edge; legend ★ 1896 ★ and a single date, 1896 P·G·V (700,000). The price table is not republished.
- Greysheet — 1896-PG V 10c Puerto Rico (GSID 337553) (opens in a new tab)
KM-21, PCGS#976903; .900 silver, 2.5 g, 18 mm, reeded edge; mintage 700,000. Prices are not republished.
- EnciclopediaPR — History of money in Puerto Rico (Spanish) (opens in a new tab)
The peso and the 20 centavos are dated 1895; the other denominations, 1896. 10 centavos of 1896: 700,000 struck.
- Wikipedia (Spanish) — Puerto Rican provincial peso (opens in a new tab)
Mintages by value: 700,000 pieces of 10 centavos in 1896.
- Wikipedia — Currencies of Puerto Rico (opens in a new tab)
Gives .835 silver for the 1896 10 centavos, against .900 in Numista and Greysheet.
Related pieces
Another piece in the Puerto Rico collection.
