Puerto Rico · Provincial coinage
40 Centavos coin, 1896
40 Centavos · Alfonso XIII · 1896 PGV
Silver 40 centavos of Puerto Rico, 1896: the boy Alfonso XIII, struck in Madrid, with officials P·G·V. No serial and unslabbed.
Catalog facts
- Year
- 1896
- Mint
- Madrid; no mint mark. Officials P·G·V
- Denomination
- 40 centavos of the provincial peso (0.40 peso)
- Composition
- Silver .835 (Numista; a type figure, not an assay). NGC gives .900. At .835 and 10 g, the calculated fine silver is 8.35 g, about 0.2685 troy oz.
- Weight
- Not weighed. Type: 10 g (Numista).
- Diameter
- Not measured. Type: 27 mm (Numista).
- Edge
- Reeded (Numista). This specimen’s edge was not photographed.
- Alignment
- Coin alignment, 180° (Numista). Not checked on this specimen.
- Condition
- Unslabbed. Circulation wear to the hair and arms; a scratch on the neck. Legends and date readable. Not a numerical grade.
- References
- KM#23 · Calicó 127 · Numista N#17452
- CoinVarieties cites the type as KM-23.2. Numista and NGC use KM#23.
Obverse
Reverse
The coin
This piece is a silver 40 centavos of Puerto Rico’s provincial coinage, dated 1896, the only year of the denomination. 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 — “Alfonso XIII, by the grace of God, constitutional king of Spain” — and, below the neck truncation, the initials B·M of engraver Bartolomé Maura y Montaner and the date 1896 between stars. The reverse carries the crowned arms of Spain between the Pillars of Hercules, with the PLUS ULTRA ribbon, the legend ISLA DE PUERTO RICO above and 40 CENTAVOS below, flanked by P·G· at left and ·V· at right. Those letters name Madrid Mint officials: Félix Miguel Peiró Rodrigo and Antonio García González, assayers, and Remigio Vega Vega, weigh master. They do not mark a striking in Puerto Rico. Krause catalogs it as KM#23; Calicó as 127; Numista as N#17452. Numista gives .835 silver, 10 g, 27 mm, a reeded edge, and coin alignment (180°) as type figures; they were not measured on this specimen. The photographs are of the object, upright and uncropped; they do not establish die axis.
Legends
- Obverse
- ALFONSO XIII P.L.G.D.D. REY C. DE ESPAÑA · ★ 1896 ★ — “Alfonso XIII, by the grace of God, constitutional king of Spain.” Below the bust: B·M.
- Reverse
- ISLA DE PUERTO RICO · PLUS ULTRA · P·G· 40 CENTAVOS ·V· (officials Peiró, García, and Vega).
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. The 40 centavos was struck only in 1896. EnciclopediaPR and Numista record 725,002 pieces; the Spanish Wikipedia table and the NGC guide, 725,000. This record keeps both figures and does not assign the two-piece difference to proofs. The fineness adopted here is .835, Numista’s figure. NGC publishes .900, which on a 10 g disc would be 9 g of fine silver, against 8.35 g at .835. Section 11 of the Foraker Act of 12 April 1900 authorized withdrawal of Puerto Rican coin at 60 United States cents per peso, and the same rate for the fractions. At that rate a 40 centavos piece came to 24 cents. That equivalence is the exchange rate, not a numismatic value. The text also provides that, three months after the act took effect, only United States coin was legal tender for debts contracted afterward; earlier debts remained payable in Puerto Rican coin or at the exchange rate. Numista dates demonetization to 12 April 1900.
Scarcity and type
A single-year type: 1896 P·G·V, KM#23. It belongs to the provincial series of five denominations — 5, 10, 20, and 40 centavos, and 1 peso — issued in 1895–1896. The mintage, whether 725,002 or 725,000, does not say how many pieces survive. Those that keep detail and original surface matter more. This record publishes no census and no auction prices. Comparing pieces of the type means looking at wear, nicks, hairlines, possible cleaning, and certification, along with the date and the catalogue reference.
Certification
The example is raw, with no NGC, PCGS, or other holder, and the type carries no serial number. There is no certification number. The identity of this record is this object — 40 centavos of 1896, boy Alfonso XIII bust, P·G·V — not an auction lot. Sales of other examples are not transcribed here. If it is later slabbed, the cert number will replace this note.
Sources
- Numista — 40 Centavos, Alfonso XIII, Puerto Rico 1896 (N#17452) (opens in a new tab)
KM#23; .835 silver, 10 g, 27 mm, reeded edge, coin alignment; a single date, 1896 PGV (725,002); Madrid mint; demonetized 12 April 1900. The price table is not republished.
- EnciclopediaPR — History of money in Puerto Rico (Spanish) (opens in a new tab)
The 40 centavos is dated 1896, with the figure 725,002. The peso and the 20 centavos are of 1895; the rest, of 1896. It ties the series to the exchange notes.
- Wikipedia (Spanish) — Puerto Rican provincial peso (opens in a new tab)
Mintage table: 725,000 pieces of 40 centavos in 1896.
- NGC — Puerto Rico 40 Centavos KM#23, 1896 PGV (opens in a new tab)
Mintage 725,000 and fineness .900. Prices and melt value are not republished.
- CoinVarieties — Puerto Rico 1896-PG V 40 centavos (opens in a new tab)
Calicó 127 and KM-23.2. It prints 752,002 and .900 silver; those two figures are not adopted. The hammer it cites is not republished.
- LexJuris — Foraker Act, article 11 (Spanish text) (opens in a new tab)
Exchange at 60 United States cents per peso, the same rate for the fractions. The 24 cents for the 40 centavos is that rate applied, not a figure printed in the section.
- United States Code — 48 U.S.C. § 755 (section 11, act of 12 April 1900) (opens in a new tab)
Official summary of the redemption at 60 cents per peso and of the recoinage into United States coin.
- Ruymán (archive) — Provincial Peso series of P.R., Alfonso XIII (1895–1896) (opens in a new tab)
P and G, assayers; V, weigh master; B·M, Bartolomé Maura y Montaner. The archive gives Peiró the name Félix Miguel Peiró Rodrigo.
Related pieces
Another piece in the Puerto Rico collection.
