Philippines 1868 10 centimos
The first specimen was lot 10595 in Ponterio sale 169 (Baltimore, November 2012), where it sold for $200. The catalog description[1] noted, "PHILIPPINES. 10 Centimos, 1868. NGC MS-63. Toned. From the Demarete Collection." This coin is one of a series minted by the Spanish authorities in Manila in an attempt to drive out foreign coin (mostly Mexican) circulating there. There are also silver twenty and fifty centimos and gold one, two and four pesos, all with the portrait of Queen Isabella.
The Philippines were conquered by Spain in the late 1500's. Other than introducing Christianity, the colonizers made little effort to develop the islands which gradually fell into the hands of the friars. Manila was important only as a way station on the route from China to Mexico and whatever coins were used there were derived therefrom. Crude, locally produced copper coins were issued c.1798-1835 and in the 1830's large quantities of Latin American pesos were counterstamped "F.7" or "Y.II" for local circulation. Finally, about 1860, a reforming government in Madrid sent the resources to reorganize the Manila mint and modern coinage began.
After the Americans seized the archipelago during the Spanish-American war, all the Spanish issues were demonetized in 1904. This type was struck 1864-68 (plus the restrikes noted below) but only the 1868 is common.
Recorded mintage: 138,512 plus about 450,000 restruck 1870-74.
Specification: 2.59 g, 0.900 fine silver, .075 troy oz ASW, 19 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Cayón-16961, KM-145.
- Basso, Aldo P., Coins, Medals and Tokens of the Philippines, Menlo Park, CA: 1968.
- Ganzon de Legarda, Angelita, Piloncitos to Pesos, A Brief History of Coinage in the Philippines, Manila: Bancom Development Corporation, 1976.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
- Calicó, Xavier, Numismática Española: Catálogo General con Precios de Todas las Monedas Españolas Acuñadas desde Los Reyes Católicos Hasta Felipe VI, 1474 a 2020, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2019.
- O'Connor, Patrick, The Coins of Queen Isabel II of Spain: A Detailed Study of the Coins, Patterns and Medals of Her Reign, San Antonio, TX: Aurora Rarities, LLC, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, Ponterio sale 169: The November 2012 Baltimore Auction, Irvine, CA: Stack's Bowers, LLC, 2012.
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