1944-S Philippines 1 Centavo!

What's twice the size of a U.S. cent and only worth half of one in face value? This coin! Two of these (relatively) large coins would make but one tiny U.S. cent despite having more metal content. That was back in the time when the government made money from making money. Now the cent and nickel are getting expensive and people aren't happy. This coin has jumped an estimated five times its original face value (due to inflation) making it worth $0.50.

1960 Philippines One Centavo!

A little over 10 years after the U.S. left and the Philippines were still using the old U.S. Administration designs. My favorite aspect of this coin is the multi-coloredness <--(not a word). My least favorite is the shotty die work. The "REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES" on the banner looks pretty amateur as do the sun's rays. There's also a possible die crack between the 6 and the 0 but that may just be from that stain. It's worth about $0.05 unless there's a die crack in which case it is worth more.

1945-D Philippines 20 Centavos!

Bought this two days ago at the flea market. The Phillipine Peso under American administration was valued at 2 Pseos: 1 Dollar so this coin was basically an American Dime. It's the same size as an American nickel and 72.5% silver which allowed for the lower face value and lower exchange value. It's pretty dirty and worn so it's worth only about $3.17 for the silver content.

1944-D Phillipines 10 Centavos!

Thought I'd shown this but I haven't so here it is. It's in UNC although the back does seem to have had a weak die impression. That or there was some grease in the die. It was struck under U.S. administration and had the face value of half of a U.S. dime or 5 cents. This was made possible due to a smaller size and silver content of .725 rather than .900. Also notice the mintmark between the date and the word united. It's a D for Denver which is where this coin was struck. This does not make it rare, in fact Denver was the only place it was struck in 1944 with a mintage of over 31 million. This means it is not rare and worth little, about $3.00 in this case.

1995 Philippines 5 Sentimo!

This coin just instantly reminds me of my Holey Cent! post except this coin is supposed to look this way. I'm pretty sure this is the only coin I currently own that was minted with a hole in it, although I have had some over the years. It would be a nice thing to keep on a necklace so you wouldn't loose your change. That is, if you could get it off without having to ruin the necklace. If you couldn't it would still be a nice jewelery piece. The 5 reminds me of Kindergarten and 1st Grade when the teacher would tell us how to make a 5 she'd say make a line across, a line down, and a big fat belly. Those words may have been the very inspiration for this coin's 5. That or they needed to fit the hole in. Anyway if you noticed the 1995 on one side and the 1993 on the other the reason is this: Some countries (such as the Philippines) like to put a date showing when the current Central Bank was established. It's kind of like a sign at a factory that says "2 Years Without An Accident" or something along those lines. This lucky coin has gone 17 years without an accident and is worth $0.15.

1941-M Philippines 10 Centavos!

I bought this a couple of weeks ago at the flea market. Judging by the title of this post I'd say it's a 1941-M Philippines 10 Centavos. The M stands for Manila which is the capital city of the Philippines. I can't remember what I got it for, but I do know that it was under $5.00. It is worth $1.00-$2.00.

Islands and Indians!

The 1904 cent was the oldest coin in my collection when I got it. My grandpa traveled the world after the war (WWII) and brought back lots of coins. I was going through some and found it. I was extremely excited. It was an amazing find for me especially because I was mostly collecting from circulation and hadn't experienced  a coin from over 100 years ago. In this condition it goes for about $1.00-$2.00. This Phillipines 5 centavos coin is one of my foreign favorites. It was circulating in the Phillipines during WWII which is the time many coins were thrown into the ocean to escape capture from Japan. Unfortunately, this coin came after that time so it is not that rare. It is valued at about $0.50-$0.75.  (The reason for the dual coins is because I didn't post yesterday.)