| Author |
 Replies: 6 / Views: 1,682 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
I recently stumbled upon a cache of this issue. Believe it or not, the trio pictured here represents by far the best of the lot. The rest were so much basura. The narrative that's out there is that these large coppers were produced for just the first six months of the year in response to a spike in the price of silver, and then deemed no longer necessary when the striking of a somewhat debased silver 20 centavos was resumed in the latter part of the year. So....supposedly nearly 5 million were made. Supposedly the need for their use was limited. Yet uncirculated examples can command hundreds of dollars, and most survivors seem to be in just the most awful condition you could possibly imagine (and maybe even worse than that). It's hard to figure, and I can't help but think there's more to the story of these that accounts for their relative scarcity overall and their rarity in higher grades.   Colligo ergo sum
|
|
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
A form of Gresham's Law seems to have applied to this issue, and perhaps that is why it may be so hard to find the copper versions of this denomination in top condition.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
4883 Posts |
Certainly the earlier silver 20 centavos became an item to be hoarded on account of the worth of their precious metal content exceeding their face value. Under those circumstances, when the bronze substitutes becme available, Gresham's law certainly applied. I wonder if the lowered silver content 20 centavos that followed were also at best only reluctantly circulated contrary to what the government wanted.
Colligo ergo sum
Edited by Lucky Cuss
05/29/2016 08:53 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
684 Posts |
After WWI silver prices went up and the Mexican 10c and 20c silver were replaced with copper coins, the AG content of the 50c and peso was lowered. The 20c copper was produced for about 6 months until the lower AG content 20c was produced after AG prices had stabilized. Bank tellers were told to pull the copper 10c and 20c out of circulation and replace them with the new silver coins, hence the relative scarcity.
In regards to rarity of unc coppers from this period...who hoards copper? Even today folks stack silver, but copper? Well maybe somebody. So while people might put silver coins under a mattress where they might stay in gem condition, think 1920 Mexico, I don't think copper was treated that way. 20c was decent money in those days. That is why coppers in top condition from this period are tough.
|
|
New Member
United States
47 Posts |
A number of old volumes of The Numismatist are online (see Google Books or archive.org) and trolling through these for references to Mexico can yield some tidbits - though often just enough to be frustrating. In Vol. 33 (1920) there are a few notes about the severe shortage of fractional silver in Mexico, and about the effort to relieve the crisis by issuing the 10c and 20c copper coins (also paper 50c and 1 pesos). Then a September 1921 piece about Mexico's ban on foreign currency includes this: It is stated that Mexico is the only country in the world that is on a metal basis. There is absolutely not a piece of Mexican currency in circulation in the whole country. The money is chiefly gold, in coinage of two pesos, five pesos and ten pesos. Comparatively little silver is to be seen, its place being largely taken by bronze and nickel pieces. I think Gresham's Law would say that even if fractional silver were available, people would hoard it and spend the copper instead. Maybe these 20 centavos just got worked to death. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
Quote:
Bank tellers were told to pull the copper 10c and 20c out of circulation and replace them with the new silver coins, hence the relative scarcity. That corresponds with my understanding. My question remains, then, of those that didn't get retrieved after less than a year of circulation, why didn't more of them survive in at at least AU'ish condition? Instead, the ones you generally see look like they were used for a very long time. Quote:
I think Gresham's Law would say that even if fractional silver were available, people would hoard it and spend the copper instead. Maybe these 20 centavos just got worked to death. That'd be an entirely reasonable scenario were not the bronzes were under a mandate to be withdrawn, but I'm thinking there's the seed of an answer to this puzzle in what you say. It's entirely possible that in rural areas, those bronzes might not have ever seen the inside of a bank, and continued to be employed in everyday commerce well beyond the stopgap period the government intended. Perhaps that's the key to explaining the population of these as we see it today. Colligo ergo sum
Edited by Lucky Cuss
05/28/2016 10:04 pm
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
684 Posts |
The design of these coins is great. I consider the 10c and 20c as kind of anomalies, the 1c and 2c a bit small, so settled on the 5c. Some of these are tough in top shape. It took years to pick up a gem (MS65) 1918.
|
| |
Replies: 6 / Views: 1,682 |
|
Posted 05/28/2016 7:05 pm
