In my experience neither NGC or PCGS are open to certifing new USA/Philippine die varities.

The USA/Philippine Fifty Centavos coins are a very interesting series. In my opinion the 1903 through 1906 large Fifty Centavos with the Territorial Reverse are the most beautiful. They are all typically well struck in both proof and business strikes and have excellent detail including the hair, anvil and volcano.

When the mint reduced the size and weight of USA/Philippine silver coins in 1907 the Reduced Size Fifty Centavos lost a lot of detail in the hair but retained detail in the anvil and volcano. Strangely the reduced size Twenty Centavos and reduced size Ten Centavos did not seem to suffer from this problem. In my opinion the problem with the Reduced Size Fifty Centavos must have been with the Master Hub for even the 1908 proofs lack detail in the hair and lack the eye appeal of the large size Fifty Centavos

Of course the 1936-M Murphy-Quezon Commemorative used a different obverse design.

I have examined my 1944-S and 1945-S Fifty Centavos and there is no way that they were struck with leftover dies from 1907 - 1921. Both my 1944-S MS66 and 1945-S MS67 Fifty Centavos show a less detailed volcano than the 1907-1921 Fifty Centavos. The difference is more than a lack of details as the details that are present are very different than you see on the 1907-1921 Fifty Centavos. Another interesting difference is that both my 1944-S and 1945-S Fifty Centavos have wonderful detail in the hair, in fact even more detail than my 1908 PF62. If the San Francisco Mint were using old worn dies from 1907-1921 there is no way that they would suddenly strike coins with more detail in the hair than they did when they were new.

If the 1944-S Fifty Centavos discovered by coin928

http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=10460

has volcano features that are the same as the 1907-1921 Fifty Centavos then it probably is a new die variety. The question that I have is does this coin lack hair details as is the case with every 1907-1921 Fifty Centavos that I have ever seen or is there good hair detail. If hair details are absent then the new variety could be using an old die from 1907-1921. If there are good hair detail then it is most likely a die that was cut in 1944.

In any case I do not think that there is any chance of either NGC or PCGS accepting a new die variety. I have a couple of die varieties that are not in Allen that I would like to certify and have been told by both NGC and PCGS that they will not certify any die varities that are not listed in the Allen catelog. Unfortunately since Allen has discontinued publishing his catelog it may be a long time before we can get any new die varities certified.

Even if a die variety is listed in the Allen catelog there is no guarantee that either NGC or PCGS will certify it as a die variety. Several Philippine collectors and dealers that I know have failed to get variety attribution on well known Allen Varities.

For example I own a great looking PCGS MS67 Red 1944-S One Centavo that is clearly an Allen Die Variety 3.06b - BASE OF LAST 4 MISSING AT LEFT SIDE.

http://www.pcgs.com/TrueView/medium/05912275.jpg

Since MS67 Red is the Top Grade for this coin it qualifies for the PCGS Condition Census. At last years Chicago ANA Convention I brought this coin to the PCGS booth for the free high resolution Secure Care imaging that PCGS offers for coins that qualify for their Condition Census. PCGS does their Secure Care imaging out of the holder so the coin had to be reholdered. Armed with my trusty Allen Catelog I pointed out to PCGS that the coin was an Allen Variety and requested that the variety be included on the new Secure Care label. The PCGS grader acknowledged that my coin was an Allen variety 3.06b but refused to put it on the label because he thought that it was not an important enough variety.

In the attached picture you can clearly see the BASE OF LAST 4 MISSING AT LEFT SIDE.

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