Philippines 1865 2 pesos
This specimen was lot 1484 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $2,160. The catalog description[1] noted, "PHILIPPINES. 2 Pesos, 1865. Manila Mint. Isabel II. NGC AU-53. This VERY RARE and attractive lightly circulated beauty dazzles with some strong tomes of mint brilliance and is a strong example for the grade. This seldom encountered issues is one of the KEY dates to the series for this denomination." The Philippines were conquered by Spain in the late 1500's. Other than introducing Christianity, the colonizers made little effort to develop the islands which gradually fell into the hands of the friars. Manila was important only as a way station on the route from China to Mexico and whatever coins were used there were derived therefrom. Crude, locally produced copper coins were issued c.1798-1835 and in the 1830's large quantities of Latin American pesos were counterstamped "F.7" or "Y.II" for local circulation. Finally, about 1860, a reforming government in Madrid sent the resources to reorganize the Manila mint and modern coinage began. These included gold one, two and four pesos (struck 1861-68).
Recorded mintage: 33,944, a scarce date.
Specification: 3.38 g, 0.875 fine gold, .119 troy oz AGW (same weight as a Mexican one escudo).
Catalog reference: Cayón-17278, Fr-2; KM-143; Basso-69.
- Basso, Aldo P., Coins, Medals and Tokens of the Philippines, Menlo Park, CA: 1968.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Ganzon de Legarda, Angelita, Piloncitos to Pesos, A Brief History of Coinage in the Philippines, Manila: Bancom Development Corporation, 1976.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
- Calicó, Xavier, Numismática Española: Catálogo General con Precios de Todas las Monedas Españolas Acuñadas desde Los Reyes Católicos Hasta Felipe VI, 1474 a 2020, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2019.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- O'Connor, Patrick, The Coins of Queen Isabel II of Spain: A Detailed Study of the Coins, Patterns and Medals of Her Reign, San Antonio, TX: Aurora Rarities, LLC, 2017.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The 2022 NYINC Sale: World and Ancient Coins, featuring the Mark and Lottie Salton Collection and the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
Links to: