Today's Journal entry is the ninth installment in my weekly series on the United States coinage for the Philippine Islands. The eighth of the twenty slots that compose a NGC USA-Philippines Type Set is the Reduced Size and Weight Ten Centavos of 1907 - 1935.

When the U.S. Congress established the Standards for U.S. Philippine coins in March 1903 the price of silver was at an all time low. By 1905 rising silver prices brought the bullion value of Philippine silver coins to the level where they were beginning to disappear from circulation. By November 1906 the bullion value of Philippine silver coins had risen to 13.2% over their face value. Laws prohibiting the melting and export of silver coins proved largely ineffective and something had to be done.

On December 6, 1906 the U.S. Congress passed an Act "for the purpose of preventing the melting and exportation of the silver coins of the Philippine Islands as a result of the high price of silver". The Act reduced the weight and fineness of the four denominations of USA/Philippine silver coins. It also granted authority to recall all USA-Philippine silver coins from banks and circulation and ship them back to the United States for re-coining into pieces of lesser fineness.

Under the new standards the silver Ten Centavos coin was reduced from 2.69 Grams (41.55 grains), of .900 fineness silver (ASW 0.0779 oz.) to 2.0 grams (30.86 grains), of .750 fineness silver (ASW 0.0482 oz.). The size of the Ten Centavos was also reduced from 17.5 mm to 16.5 mm. The first year of production for the new "Reduced Size and Weight" silver coins was 1907.

The Reduced Size and Weight Ten Centavos uses same obverse and reverse designs that were used on earlier Ten Centavos. The Ten Centavos was designed by Filipino artist Melicio Figueroa. The obverse design features a young Filipino woman standing to the right in a flowing dress while striking an anvil with a hammer held in her right hand, the left hand is raised and holding an olive branch. In the background is a billowing volcano. The obverse carries the inscriptions "Ten 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.

Ten Centavos struck at the Philadelphia Mint have no mint mark. All of the Ten Centavos made at the San Francisco Mint have an "S" mint mark on the reverse to the left of the date. The Ten Centavos struck at the Manila Mint in 1920 and 1921 carry no mint mark. Starting in 1925 all Ten Centavos made by the Manila Mint have an "M" mint mark on the reverse to the left of the date.

Business strikes of the reduced size and weight Ten Centavos were struck at both the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints in 1907. From 1908 through 1915 business strikes of the Ten Centavos were made exclusively at the San Francisco Mint. No Ten Centavos were produced anywhere during 1916. Ten Centavos production resumed at the San Francisco Mint in 1917 and continued there through 1919. In 1920 Ten Centavos production shifted to the newly opened Manila Mint. Ten Centavos were produced at the Manila Mint in 1920, and 1921. No Ten Centavos were produced anywhere from 1922 through 1928. Business strikes of the Ten Centavos were made at the Manila Mint in 1929 then discontinued until 1935.

Since U.S. mints had to replace nearly all of the Islands silver coinage in 1907 it was not felt that there were enough resources to make 1907 Proof Sets. When Proof Set production resumed in 1908 all of the silver coins, including the 1908 Ten Centavos, were struck in the newly authorized reduced weight and fineness. 1908 was the last year of production for Philippine Proof coins and the only year that the reduced size and weight Ten Centavos was struck in Proof. The 1908 Proof Ten Centavos had a mintage of 500 coins.

Mintage figures for business strikes of the Reduced Size and Weight Ten Centavos is as follows: 1907-(P) (1,500,781), 1907-S (4,930,000), 1908-S (3,363,911), 1909-S (312,199), 1910-S (?), 1911-S (1,010,505), 1912-S (1,010,000), 1913-S (1,360,693), 1914-S (1,180,000), 1915-S (450,000), 1917-S (5,991,148), 1918-S (8,420,000), 1919-S (1,630,000), 1920-(M) (520,000), 1921-(M) (3,863,038), 1929-M (1,000,000), and 1935-M (1,280,000).

According to official mint figures no Ten Centavos were made in 1910. It has been unofficially estimated that five to ten 1910-S Ten Centavos may have been struck and one was reliably reported to have been seen in the Manila mint collection prior to World War ll. That specimen was lost when the Manila Mint was destroyed during the war and today there are no know surviving examples of the 1910-S Ten Centavos.

The Reduced Size and Weight Ten Centavos has ten recognized die varieties. They are: 1907-S/S (Allen number 8.02a), 1908-S/S (Allen number 8.04a), 1908-S Inverted S (Allen number 8.04c), 1912-S/S (Allen number 8.08a), 1913-S/S (Allen number 8.09a), 1914-S Short Crossbar 4 (Allen number 8.10a), 1914-S Long Crossbar 4 (Allen number 8.10b), 1915-S/S (Allen number 8.11a), 1917-S Repunched 1, High Mint Mark (Allen number 8.12a), and 1929-M Repunched Date (Allen number 8.17a).

Strike Issues: This type of Ten Centavos is generally well struck. Some obverses may be seen with slight flattening of the hair just above the ear, possibly including the upper part of the figure. Very occasionally a reverse will have some flattening of the eagle's breast feathers.

Moderately priced GEM quality examples of this type coin can be found in the following dates; 1918-S, 1921 (M), 1929-M, and 1935-M.

The attached picture shows a 1935-M USA-Philippines Ten Centavos. This attractive, well struck, specimen is graded NGC MS65

To see my Ten Centavos Registry Set click here: http://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=51346&;Ranking=ngc

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=ngc

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 Commonwealth Reverse Ten Centavos of 1937 - 1945.

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