| Among the
gold coins of Isabel II from the Casa de Moneda de Manila, the most significant
and the ones most shrouded with mystery and controversy are those minted
in 1867. Of the entire gold mintage, a total of 1,567,816 1-peso coins
were struck, of which only 11,545 were dated 1867. 2-peso coins were even
more problematic. Although a total of 1,260,304 were struck, there appears
to be no record of any 2-peso 1867 coin ever having been minted nor had
one even been verified to exist. Reasons ranging from breakdowns in machinery
to corruption of mint employees or fears of bankruptcy in the government
have been presented, but none have been seriously established. As a consequence,
high grade 1-peso coins and specially 4-peso coins in any condition are
EXTREMELY RARE.
The UNCIRCULATED
1-peso coin who obverse and reverse (this basic design is common to all
denominations) are shown above is a virtual numismatic gem. This could
well be the only 1-peso 1867 coin the the world that has survived in such
a pristine state.
Under it are
the obverses of two DIFFERENT types of 4-peso 1867 coins. Microscopic examination
of these coins confirms the use of at least two different dies in the minting
of only 1,530 coins, giving credence to the theory that machine or die
failure my have been the cause of the resulting minimal mintages for the
year. Due to its extreme rarity and the resulting high demand for the coin,
the 4-peso 1867 has been subject to constant counterfeiting. To date only
FOUR specimens of this coin have been ascertained to be genuine worldwide
while six likely prospects are yet to be examined. (All the coins featured
are from Philippine collections) |
