When the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico in 1898 they melted all the P.R. coins to make the Morgan Dollar, and today one Puerto Rico coins is now a very rare coin because of that. The P.R. coin is now 10 times more valuable than a Morgan, Dave
I suppose it depends which Morgan you're referring to. All the [government] Puerto Rico coins are listed in the back of the Redbook. How did the U.S. confiscate all the coins from all over the island, spread out among roughly a million residents? And since coins were essential for commerce, what did they replace them with?
It's pretty simple, you tell people to turn them in, and they do. And this was not the only time something like this happened. It has happened many times throughout history in a great many countries. For example, during WWI, all of the 1 and 2 cent Spanish copper coins were collected in Cuba, and sold to France so the French govt. could melt them down and make munitions to use in the war. Now did they get every single coin ? Of course not, but they sure got most of them. In the US, in 1933, the govt. ordered people to turn in all their gold coins, and they did. No, not every single one, but they sure got most of them.
I think it's a possibility based on a similar occurrence with coinage in the Philippines. I remember reading that the U.S. worked quickly to replace the Spanish coinage in the Philippines with new U.S. Philippine coinage probably as a show of authority.
Keep in mind, this was a different world back then. One where the new conqueror of your people said, "Turn their coins in and use ours, at the exchange value we give you. Anyone using the old coins will be executed on sight." And it happened frequently in some countries. Puerto Rico was on the tail end of that, but it was the way of the world before.
The Puerto Rican coins of 1895-96 are not at all rare. They are not even scarce until you get into decent MS grades. These coins are often brought up in discussions of value vs. rarity as an example where value leads people into a false sense of rarity.
Movajedave, I ran across a 1962 Whitman publication; THE MONEY OF PUERTO RICO, by Maurice M. Gould & Lincoln W. Higgie that offers an explanation about the switch from Spanish currency to U.S. currency. The following is a direct quote: “After Puerto Rico was occupied by the United Sates, a proclamation was issued by President McKinley dated December 28, 1898, to establish money values on the island. It provided that after January 1, 1899, only United States money, Spanish 25 peseta gold pieces and French20 franc gold coins were to be accepted for customs, taxes, public and postal dues. The coins of 1895-1896 were to be accepted at the rate of 60 cents on the peso. The Puerto Rican silver coins continued to circulate at their reduced values, being gradually withdrawn from circulation and being melted down during the next few years until the majority were disposed of”. What’s interesting is that the island already had a well established secondary monetary system of tokens issued by the plantation owners (Haciendados) for use by laborers. These remained in use for years and are now collectible and pricey. Hope this sheds some light on your inquiry.
Silver coins from the Spanish occupation of the Philippines are common and reasonably priced. Silver coins from the Spanish occupation of Puerto Rico are not rare but they are very expensive. I recently picked up a nice AU 1897 Spanish Philippines silver, crown sized peso for less than $60 . A 1890's silver Spanish Puerto Rican crown will cost $300. and up.
