Philippines 1944-S centavo
This issue was produced at the San Francisco mint. The Manila mint, which struck all Philippines coinage from 1925 until World War Two, was held by the Japanese and was unavailable. The enormous mintage (equal to the amount produced 1936-41) was meant to compensate for the years (1942-43) when none were made. Used specimens fill dealer junk boxes at coin shows everywhere. All were demonetized by the Philippine government in the late 1960's when the currency was reformed.
The mint, along with every other important building, was destroyed by the house-to-house fighting in Manila in the last days of the war. The MacArthur commemorative of 1947 was struck in San Francisco and no other coins were issued until 1958. The centavos issued then (KM 186) were of reduced size.
Recorded mintage: 58,000,000.
Specification: 25 mm diameter, 5.18 g, bronze (.950 copper & .050 tin & zinc), plain edge.
Catalog reference: KM 179.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Ganzon de Legarda, Angelita, Piloncitos to Pesos, A Brief History of Coinage in the Philippines, Manila: Bancom Development Corporation, 1976.
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