A NEW (TO ME) BRANCH OF THE US MINT: MANILA MINT
I learn from our clients.
It’s nice to think they learn from us as well, but it’s really cool when
someone walks into the store with a coin, or information about a coin, that is
a total stumper!
Recently a visitor to our store asked about “Woodrow Wilson
Dollars dated 1920.” My first thought
was the Woodrow Wilson edition of the Presidential Dollar series recently
completed by the US Mint. But these coins bear the date of Wilson’s two terms
in office: 1913 – 1921. They were struck
in 2013, either P for Philadelphia, or D for Denver. Time for some research.
It turns out that the Woodrow Wilson Dollar coins of 1920
were indeed a US Mint product, struck in a branch US Mint that I’d never heard
of: The Manila Mint in what was then the
Philippine Territories. This was the
only branch mint located outside of the United States.
The Wilson coins commemorated the opening of the mint under
US auspices, which served local coinage needs from 1920 to 1941. In that year
of looming war in the Pacific, remaining stocks of the silver and bronze coins
were moved to the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay.
As it became clear that the Philippines, and especially
Corregidor, would fall to the Japanese, many of the coins were hastily dumped
into the bay. You may encounter sea-salvaged examples of these coins from time
to time in the coin markets.
During the Japanese Occupation, the Manila Mint was briefly
operated by the occupying forces. After
the war, The Philippines became an independent nation with its own coinage.
Accordingly, the new Philippine government took control of the Manila Mint
which was thereby deleted from the roster of US branch mints.
The Woodrow Wilson dollars were struck in gold, silver, and
bronze. They were engraved by non-other than George T. Morgan the designer of
the iconic Morgan Dollar of 1878-1921.
The gold pieces were few in number, as few as three, no more than five,
struck. Considerably more of the silver
and bronze coins were produced.
Collectors tend to include these in the “so-called dollars”
category, which includes medals and medallions produced for significant
national events or accomplishments. In this instance, the Wilson Dollar was
intended as a non-circulating Philippine coin – a commemorative coin only. The
common Philippine unit of exchange was, after all, the peso.
Tags The Manila Mint, Manila Mint, Woodrow Wilson Dollar, Wilson Dollar, Philippine coin, US branch mint, so-called dollar