NEW BOOK: ENCASED CENTS OF PUERTO RICO, 2ND ED.

This catalog is focused on providing an overview and a comprehensive listing of the known or reported "encased" cents or coins directly related to Puerto Rican merchants, establishments, products, or special events. It is an update of the first work we published exactly ten (10) years ago, at that time the first attempt to catalog these interesting and rare pieces of our local exonumia.

The term "exonumia" is relatively new. It is derived from the classical roots exo, (out of) in Greek, and nummus, meaning "coin" in Latin, thus, pieces or collecting material that are "outside of the category of coins or legal currency". According to the Token and Medal Society (TAMS), exonumia was defined by TAMS founding member and foremost authority in the field of token collecting, Russell Rulau, in 1960. By 1962 the term, along with the name exonumist, was adopted by TAMS, and by 1965 it was admitted in the Webster's Dictionary.2 In general, exonumia refers to collectible items that, although they may have some face value, are mostly private issues, not official or legal currency, nor authorized by any government, as coins and paper money. Under this broad definition, exonumia groups a wide and varied range of collecting fields: tokens (civil war, merchant, plantation, transportation, military, scrip, other), medals, casino chips, altered coins (love tokens, Hobo Nickels, elongated coins, encased coins), counterstamped coins, game counters, dog tags, and many others.

   

As shown, encased cents fall under the exonumia category of "altered coins", since in their fabrication the cent or coin is forced and pressured into a metal ring, thus distorting it to some extent. There are hundreds if not thousands of encased coins issued in the United States since their introduction in the fairs and expositions at the end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. On the other hand, vintage Puerto Rican encased cents are very rare. In this work we list some 30 pieces, including a few varieties, but excluding modern, common issues (modern era encased coins are covered in a separate section at the end of this catalog).

   

Our interest in Puerto Rican encased cents began in 2009, when we acquired three specimens from the ex-Efraín Archilla collection (PORTO RICO COFFEE PLEASES; FERIA INSULAR and HOTEL NORMANDIE). The almost total absence of information on these pieces was good motivation for publishing three articles on the subject, which in turn were the basis upon which our first catalog was prepared and published in 2015. In 2022 we had the opportunity to publish the first English article about Puerto Rican encased cents in the specialized and renowned TAMS Journal, aiming to reach a wider audience and to introduce our encased coins to a wider range of collectors in the mainland.

We hope this updated, English version of our catalog will be useful for all collectors interested in this fascinating specialized field of Puerto Rican numismatics.

   

Publication Date: Jul 4, 2025
Language: English
ISBN: 9781257977390
Pages: 92
Binding Type: Paperback Perfect Bound
Interior Color: Color
Dimensions: US Letter (8.5 x 11 in / 216 x 279 mm)
Price: $35

For more information, or to order, see:
General Catalog of Puerto Rico Encased Cents SECOND EDITION (https://www.lulu.com/shop/jorge-l-crespo-arm%C3%A1iz/general-catalog-of-puerto-rico-encased-cents-second-edition/paperback/product-gjy5r96.html)

 

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