Inherited some US-Philippines coins - Keeping? Or worth selling? 2 2

[AForbesAU]

Hi All, 

 

Thanks for allowing me to join this group. I recently inherited some coins from the Philippines and would like to know if they are worth anything, worth keeping? , and if I should clean them and how.
I’ve been reading up as much as I can. I started with the 10 centavo coins as I have quite a bit of them. I selected the shiniest ones (I am a newbie and attracted by anything shiny!) and do know these were minted in Denver as they have the D.
I took a close up of the one which I thought was the best of the five as it still had details of the shield at the back unlike the others.

P.S.  I have the twenty centavos coins, a few 50 centavos and 27 pieces of the one peso coins (sadly, no 1906). What should I look out for in these coins in terms of which might be more valuable, scarce, etc? 

 

 

 

Edited February 18 by AForbesAU
added photo

[powermad5000]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Well, I did a little looking into the ten centavos as the main subject of this thread. The mintage number of 1945 D ten centavos for the Philippines is 137,208,000 which basically means none of these are particularly scarce. As of 2/18/2024, the silver melt value of these is $1.13. While there is no given price guide value for these, there are some graded in the census at low amounts (most likely due to the popularity of these pieces being low in the marketplace, therefore less submitted). The majority graded between MS 64 and MS 66. There are some given gavel prices between $29 and $160 and randomly scattered throughout the grades which could indicate better or less better eye appeal of the sold pieces.

Based upon the last picture you provided, I would state that you should never allow the coin to sit on the surface of your skin as your skin oils could cause surface issues down the road with spotting and undesirable toning or marks on the surface. Always handle a coin by its edges. I/we would need better photos of both sides of that coin to be better able to assess its potential grade, but that one could possibly achieve a grade of MS 65. It is hard to tell if there are more surface issues from the lighting and angle of the coin in the photo. It seems to have retained its original surface unlike some of the ones in the top photo which do appear to be cleaned (not properly). Also, I would not "pile" all these coins up on each other causing more marks on each one to further lower their possible grades. Also, keep in mind that "shiny" is not necessarily a "good" thing. Shiny can result from a coin that is cleaned and would get a details grade.

While on that subject, DO NOT CLEAN YOUR COINS! There are services that preserve the surface of a coin in a process called conservation which is completely unlike cleaning and uses proprietary methods to not damage or disturb the surface of the coin but safely remove harmful surface contaminants and surface issues and stabilize the surface of the coin to prevent further degradation. This process is not cleaning which is normally done improperly due to ignorance and lack of knowledge and permanently damages the surface of the coin causing micro abrasions, hairline scratches, deep scratches, or chemical residues that permanently embed into the coins surface.

I would say given the mintage number involved with these 10 centavos, since you have so many, select the best two. Put each one in its own thread as multiple coins in the same thread just causes too much confusion when it comes to people commenting on which comment is for which coin (makes sense?). Post clear, cropped photos which show mostly the coin and not the background of what it sits upon. And make sure the surface is sufficiently bathed in light so the surface is not too dark in the photo. Do not drown the coin in light either as the resultant photos will be too "washed out" with light to make out any of the surface or details. Once you post those two threads, being they should be the best of the bunch, you should have an idea of what the "lesser" coins would be valued at.

Edited February 18 by powermad5000

[The 12th Denticle]

Welcome to the forum!

In addition to all of the excellent points made by @powermad5000, I will cover what to look for in your one peso coin lot.

Since you did not find any 1906s, the next on the list in order of scarcity would be the 1905-S straight serif. Look at the number “1”  of the date on the reverse, and check if the serif is straight (like the font used in this text). The common 1905s have a curved serif.

Next would be a 1912-S, then a 1911-S, then a 1905-S curved serif, and then a 1910-S.

The larger peso coins (1903-1906) are generally more valuable than the smaller ones (1907-1912) when it comes to the common dates, depending on the condition of course.

Look for proof issues too (worth a lot more than regular ones) as sometimes these made it into circulation perhaps by someone not knowing any better or in need to spending it. Proofs will not have the “S” mint mark, but the 1903 and 1904 peso coins have circulation issues without the mint mark.

Then, look for double or triple struck coins. These occur mostly in the 1908-S and 1909-S issues.

Chop-marked peso coins are also desirable and can command more depending on appearance and condition.

For more information on these one peso coins, such as mintage numbers and pictures, check out my registry set of US-Philippine one peso coins:

https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/211134/
 

Hope this helps. Feel free to post more questions and pics.

[Sandon]

    Welcome to the NGC chat board.

    Please understand that the pieces struck in the United States dated 1944-45 for the Philippines are very common and unlikely to be worth much above any silver value (ten centavos and above) for pieces with any amount of circulation wear, with the exception of a few repunched mintmark and overmintmark varieties. It's unlikely that any pieces would achieve "Gem" uncirculated grades (65 or above) unless they have been carefully and separately handled, which these pieces do not appear to have been. This is also true for many of the pre-war issues, with worn pieces having little value. However, there are exceptions for certain dates, mints, and varieties.

   You can look up retail list values in a variety of grades and any silver value for these coins on the NGC World Coin Price Guide, World Coin Price Guide and Values | NGC (ngccoin.com), which can also be found through the "Resources" tab on the NGC home page.  Use the "Search by Criteria" option, select "Philippines" under "Category", "All Regions" under "Region", and enter the denomination and date. (The catalog numbers are unnecessary.) If this results in more than one option, select the most pertinent one. For example, here are the search results for the 1945-D ten centavos: Philippines 10 Centavos KM 181 Prices & Values | NGC (ngccoin.com). Note that this result also reveals values for other dates, mints and varieties. 

   A Guide Book of United States Coins, commonly known as the "Redbook" also lists Philippines coins struck under U.S. sovereignty from 1903-1945 (pp. 434-38 of 2023 edition).  The current edition is dated 2024, and the 2025 edition should be available in April. It is available from its publisher at whitman.com or through larger booksellers or coin shops. If you have any interest in U.S. coins, it provides an overview and basic guide.