Mexico 1899-Cn Q 20 centavos
This specimen is a scarce date of a series struck 1898-1904 at the Culiacan mint, which closed in 1905. Assayer M is fairly scarce, while assayer Q is very scarce, verging on rare. This twenty centavo piece replaced the twenty-five centavo piece struck 1869-92. It, in turn, was replaced by a smaller twenty centavo piece in the 1905 reform that changed "Republica Mexicana" to "Estados Unidos Mexicanos." Culiacan is probably the second most common of the four mints that struck the type. This specimen was lot 9011 in Ponterio sale 159 (Baltimore, March 2011), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "MEXICO. Culiacan. 20 Centavos, 1899-CnQ. Very rare in top condition. NGC MS-63."
Specification: 5.41 g, 0.903 fine silver, .157 troy oz ASW.
Recorded mintage: 44,000 (assayers M and Q).
Catalog reference: KM 405.
- Buttrey, T. V., and Clyde Hubbard, A Guide Book of Mexican Coins, 1822 to date, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1992.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, Ponterio sale 159: the March 2011 Baltimore Auction, featuring the Len Novotny collection, Irvine, CA: Stack's-Bowers & Ponterio, 2011.
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