Today's Journal entry is the sixth installment in my weekly series on the United States coinage for the Philippine Islands. The fifth of the twenty slots that compose a NGC USA-Philippines Type Set is the Reduced Size & Weight Five Centavos of 1930 - 1935.

The coins in this slot include business strikes in five dates, and four recognized die varieties. All of the 1930 - 1935 Five Centavos were struck at the Manila mint and have an "M" Mint Mark on the reverse to the left of the date.

In 1930 the Five Centavos was reduced in size from a diameter of 20.5mm to 19mm. The weight was also reduced from 77.16 Grains (5.25 grams) to 75.16 Grains (4.75 grams). The Reduced Size & Weight Five Centavos was struck in the same Copper-Nickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) alloy used for earlier Five Centavos.

The reason for the reduction in size was to avoid confusion with two similar size coins the Reduced Size & Weight Twenty Centavos of 1907 - 1929 and the Culion Leper Colony One Centavo.

In 1906 Congress passed an Act reducing the weight and fineness of the four denominations of USA/Philippine silver coins. Among these changes the silver Twenty Centavos coin was reduced from 5.385 Grams, .900 fineness silver, ASW .15580 oz to 4.0 grams, 750 fineness silver, ASW .0964 oz. The size of the Twenty Centavos was also reduced from 23mm to 20mm. The first year of production for the new "Reduced Size and Weight" silver coins was 1907.

Since the 1903 - 1928 Five Centavos (20.5mm diameter) was so close in size to the new "Reduced Size and Weight" Twenty Centavos (20.0 mm diameter) mistakes were bound to follow. Inattentive merchants or consumers could easily find themselves shortchanged by fifteen Centavos. The confusion even extended to mint employees. In 1918 the San Francisco mint accidentally Muled a Five Centavos obverse die with a Twenty Centavos reverse die creating the famous 1918-S Five Centavos Mule.

The Reduced Size and Weight Five Centavos of 1930 - 1935 uses the same obverse and reverse designs as the larger 1903 - 1928 Five Centavos. The Five Centavos was designed by Filipino artist Melicio Figueroa and engraved by U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Charles Barber. The obverse design shows a young Filipino male seated next to an anvil holding a hammer in his right hand, his left arm raised, and in the background to his left is a billowing volcano. The obverse carries the inscriptions "Five Centavos" and "Filipinas" (Spanish for Philippines). The reverse design depicts an eagle with spread wings perched atop an American shield. The reverse carries the inscription "United States of America" and the date.

Mintage figures for the 1930 - 1935 Five Centavos are as follows: 1930-M (2,905,182), 1931-M (3,476,790), 1932-M (3,955,861), 1934-M (2,153,729), and 1935-M (2,754,000).

The 1930 - 1935 Five Centavos have four recognized die varieties. They are the 1930-M Repunched Date (Allen number 5.01a), 1934-M Repunched 1 (Allen number 5.04a), 1934-M Double Die Reverse and Repunched 1 (Allen number 5.04aa), and the 1935-M Repunched Date (Allen number 5.05a).

Strike Issues: The Reduced Size & Weight Five Centavos have a number of significant strike issues. According to the classical reference book "United States Territorial Coinage For The Philippine Islands" by Neil Shafer: "Obverses show the figure's left hand flat; also, many have weakly struck rims with resultant loss in detail of design (especially around the volcano and left side of the pedestal). Reverses vary greatly in clarity of strike. Some have poor rim with sharp breast feathers on the eagle, and others have a fair rim but poor wing tips and part of shield flat. Dates most susceptible to poor strikes are 1930 and 1931, although the other years of this type show up poorly struck." (Shafer, 1961, p.38)

All of the Reduced Size & Weight Five Centavos of 1930 - 1935 are scarce in Choice Uncirculated and Very Rare in Gem quality. In fact NGC and PCGS combined have only certified thirty-four (34) 1930 - 1935 Five Centavos in MS65, and one (1) in MS66, with no specimens graded higher.

The attached picture shows my 1932-M USA-Philippines Five Centavos MS65. This attractive Top Pop Coin has a combined NGC/PCGS population of 16/0.

To see my Five Centavos Registry Set click here: http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=68601&Ranking=all

To see the other coins that comprise an NGC USA-Philippines Type Set visit my award winning (2011 Best Presented Set Award) USA-Philippines Type Set at: http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=51257&Ranking=all

An expanded version of the USA-Philippines Type Set is found in my Custom USA-Philippines Type Set at: http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=9238

Next week's installment will feature the Five Centavos of 1937 - 1945.

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