Questions About Medallic Issues...

Coins described as "Medallic issues" in the Krause catalogues are not "legal tender", therefore not NCLT and not even technically "coins". They are coin-like medals, often privately issued but sometimes issued by the government mints as mint medals. But because they are "coin-like", they are often listed in the Krause "Unusual World Coins" catalogue.

Your Cuban piece is listed in UWC, as KMX# M2. Likewise, the Belgium piece you describe is listed in UWC as KMX# 8.

As for whether or not they could be used as currency, it depends in part on whether or not they actually do come from the date indicated. The Cuban coin was almost certainly struck long after 1897; I cannot say for sure if the Belgian one was actually made in 1880, but it probably was. So the Cuban one was never usable as money, but the Belgian one could well have been. But neither of them were legal tender, and would probably have been rejected by the banks if you attempted to deposit them.

The Cuba "Souvenir Peso" is, so I recall, generally thought to have started as a model for an actual coinage.
Some "medallic issues" did circulate as money, particularly "proclamation pieces" in Bolivia â€" some issues of the SCWC actually include the "Melgarejo" pieces as a denomination! They had so much political turmoil there that a good fraction of the planchets available for coins were used instead for striking these medals, & since they were the same in metallic content, people used them indiscriminately with "actual" coins.

The 1897 Cuba "Souvenir" piece you've shown was struck as a fund raiser for the Cuban Junta working in exile in New York City. This group was not recognized in any way as the official government of Cuba, but it was recognized as a leading opposition group working to remove Spain from Cuba and to establish a "free and republican government in Cuba."

The original design for the piece featured a portrait of Lady Liberty wearing a wreath on her head and the denomination "Un Peso." The Junta was advised by legal counsel that the design was too similar to US coinage and might cause problems with the US Treasury Department. The Junta was also reminded that it was not the recognized government of Cuba and that it had no authority to strike coins for the country. As a result, the designs were changed to what we see today.

One note, the Junta promised to redeem the souvenir pieces for $1.00 when the war with Spain was over and the new government of Cuba was established.

The pieces were struck under contract by Gorham Manufacturing Company of New York. The medals were struck in Philadelphia, PA and Providence, RI in July and August of 1897. A total of 10,000 pieces were minted; they were sold for $1.00 (plus postage).

The striking of the pieces required multiple dies due to breakage. As a result, there are three main types of the Souvenir "Peso," with varieties reported.

Whether these pieces are true coins or medals has been debated for many years. I believe that the current "majority opinion" considers them to be coins, but I consider them to be more of a token. I base my view on the fact that they were not struck by an entity that had authority to strike coins for Cuba but they were sold with the potential to be redeemed for legal tender.

Hope that helps!

Many thanks for sharing your knowledge, commems.

The Cuba Souvenir Peso is a medal by any definition. They are sometimes catalogued (especially in auctions) among Cuban coins due to the fact that many, if not most, collectors include them in the series. Probably due to their "official look" and the fact that they are not commemorating a certain event. World Crown collectors would include them just because they are crown-size and fit well, design-wise, with other coins of the era. And because earlier collectors and cataloguers have included them in their collections and catalogs. It's simply a matter of habit.

The Belgian pieces are early examples of what later would become circulating commemoratives. Legal tender status was less an issue at the time of their production, because it was the silver content that mattered. So if one authority refused to accept them, or if a store would only want to receive them at a discount, there would be other places that were willing to take them at 5 francs. The only reason that prevented this and similar medals from truly circulating along with the regular 5 franc pieces was the fact that there were only few of them, and most were kept as a memento.

Again, these pieces are nowadays collected and catalogued by some along with the coins out of pure habit. It's like the hen and the egg. People collect them, so they get included in the catalogs. They're in the catalogs, so collectors want them. They are scarce, but not unobtainable, so they make the ideal collectible. I am sure that if there existed only 100 of them, they would never have developped this "coin-like" status with collectors - and would sell for much less, as medals usually do!

The simple reason why in this case and others (the proclamation pieces of the Spanish empire or the mint visit medals of France, for example) coin planchets were used is their ready availability from regular coinage operations and the fact that the presses were adapted to strike them, so it was much easier to prepare the dies and the machinery and strike larger numbers (larger numbers compared to other medals, that is).