Sea Salvaged 1920 Manilla Mint Opening So-Called Dollars

kiyote · October 1, 2016 12:08PM

I'd never heard of these things but they're pretty cool.
eBay link

The reverse reminds me a lot of the 1915 Panama Pacific half reverse. When Japan invaded the Philippines in 1942 the U.S. government dumped 16 million Pesos in silver coins into Manila Bay to prevent it's seizure and a lot of these Woodrow Wilson medals, copper and silver, were included in the dump.

5 were struck in gold. I wonder where they ended up?

pruebas · October 1, 2016 12:15PM

The gold ones trade in Stacks auctions every so often. The word is there are more than 5 known, so the prices have declined.

The reverse is more like the reverse of some older US Assay Commission medals (late 1880s). Check them out for comparison.

Aegis3 · October 1, 2016 12:41PM

Here's the 1885 assay medal in silver with similar design. In addition to a few years of these, there's also an agricultural medal with a somewhat similar motif.

Let's hope this works. Assay is a word the software here does not like.

wondercoin · October 1, 2016 1:19PM

OP... I believe 3/5 gold coins are part of the JHF collection I am currently selling off. They are in a variety of grades as well as different grading services' holders at the moment. Justin may offer one on eBay next month if memory serves me right. Wondercoin.

jonathanb · October 1, 2016 1:29PM

There are gilt versions also. I'm usually against slabbing of medals, but the gold/gilt question makes it important to get the right attribution on these.

bigjpst · October 1, 2016 2:13PM

I know forum member illini420 had dealt with several of these in both copper and silver along with other U.S. Philippines issues. I had never heard of them before either. The photo looks like one from his inventory.

oldlinecoins · October 1, 2016 3:05PM

Originally posted by: kiyote

I'd never heard of these things but they're pretty cool.

eBay link

The reverse reminds me a lot of the 1915 Panama Pacific half reverse.

*Panama Pacific Half Obverse

I agree. There are a lot of similarities. They are also both beautiful designs. Thanks for sharing

lordmarcovan · October 1, 2016 7:13PM

Very cool, and a gorgeous design, though the fat nekkid toddler who resembles the Roman emperor Nero is just a teensy bit creepy.

It's remarkable how nice some of this sea-salvaged stuff came out after all that time underwater. I wonder what the coins were contained in when they went into the drink?

lordmarcovan · October 1, 2016 7:19PM

Oh... wait. Is the piece from the OP not sea-salvaged?

(If it were, its state of preservation would've been pretty remarkable, as I mentioned.)

I just looked at the eBay example, and that looks more like you'd expect.

illini420 · October 1, 2016 7:33PM

The pic posted in the OP is certainly NOT a sea salvaged piece. That PCGS AU58 piece was a coin I bought uncertified in a group lot at auction years ago and was one of the prettiest examples of the HK-449 I've had and I've owned them all the way up to MS66 examples.

The ebay link posted in the OP does go to a sea salvaged HK-450 example though... HUGE difference in the look!

ricko · October 1, 2016 10:47PM

Nice coin... the reverse design is a true example of coin art. Had not heard the story of dumping pesos in the bay.... anyone got the details or a link? Thanks, Cheers, RickO

coindeuce · October 2, 2016 9:57AM

As illini40 stated, the example presented by the OP is not sea salvage. Not all of the Manila Mint opening medals were dumped in Manila Bay. I've owned a problem free pair of the silver & copper for over a decade.

johnny9434 · October 3, 2016 5:17AM

that sure is a nice looking coin.

GoldenEgg · October 21, 2016 12:07AM

I remembered this recent thread just now when I saw this on eBay:

ebay.com/itm/1920-Gold-Wilson-Medal-SC-1-ANACS-Net-MS60-HK-1031-Cleaned-EXTREME-RARITY-/162248329633?hash=item25c6c109a1:g:HFgAAOSwHMJYCa77

Sea Salvaged 1920 Manilla Mint Opening So-Called Dollars

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