2 Centavos - Alfonso XIII Pattern

The 1894 Philippine pattern series was produced in Madrid under Spanish authority as Alfonso XIII approached his majority — he had been king since birth in 1886 but ruled under his mother María Cristina's regency until 1902. These copper patterns were exploratory strikes, testing designs and specifications for a colonial coinage that the Spanish-American War would ultimately render moot. Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States in December 1898, and none of the 1894 pattern types ever reached circulation.

Calicó and Cayon references both document this piece, suggesting it passed through major Spanish collection cataloguing. Survivors are institutional or cabinet pieces almost without exception.