Background

The 1873 the “Mint Act” halted production of Silver Three Cents and Half Dimes (the precursor to the nickel). As a result, it became difficult to get change for a quarter. For example: Purchase a 20c item and there’s no Half Dime available for change

Political considerations resulted in the proposal for a Twenty Cent piece instead of producing more nickels and cents. Philadelphia, Carson City, and San Francisco began Minting the Twenty Cent Piece in 1875.

The Twenty Cent Piece

The obverse is the Seated Liberty used on many other coins. William Barber re-engraved it to make it fit in the smaller space available. The reverse was borrowed from the Trade Dollar reverse. The edge is smooth, not reeded like most Silver coins.

Mint Marks

The Mint Marks for Carson City and San Francisco coins are above the Y in the word “TWENTY” on the reverse. Coins minted in Philadelphia do not have a mint mark.

Mintage

As the table below shows, the great majority of Business Strike 20 Cent Pieces were made in San Francisco. Very few were made in Philadelphia. Over 10,000 of those minted in Carson City were melted by the mint.

For all practical purposes 1875 was the only year that Business Strike 20 Cent Pieces were minted.

Size of the Twenty Cent Piece

The amount of silver in US coins is proportional to their denomination, so for example a 20 cent coin contains 80% as much silver as a 25 cent piece. This meant that the Twenty Cent Piece had to be about 80% the size of a quarter. The coins below are shown in proportion to their actual size.

Public Opinion

The public was confused by the new coin as it was almost the same size as a quarter. The fact that the 20c Piece has a smooth edge and the 25c Piece has a reeded edge did not help much, if at all. The coin did not perform well in the marketplace and became unpopular.

The Twenty Cent Piece was only minted for commerce (business strike) for 2 years, 1875 and 1876. Proofs only were made in 1877 and 1878.

Value of Business Strike Issues

Twenty Cent pieces are not easy to find in today’s market, so they are relatively expensive. Here are some approximate retail prices as of January 2021.

The 1876 Carson City coins were all melted except for a handful. The 1877 and 1878 coins are all Proofs.

Summary

Halting production of Silver Three Cents and Half Dimes in 1875 made it difficult to get change for a quarter in marketplace. The creation of a Twenty Cent Piece mitigated this problem. Twenty Cent pieces were made mostly in San Francisco. They were almost the same size as the Seated Liberty Quarter.

The Twenty Cent Piece did not perform well in the marketplace and production of Business Strike issues was halted after only 2 years.

Happy Hunting!