Erik in NJ
Silver Member
- Oct 4, 2010
- 4,037
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- Minelab Explorer SE Pro & CTX-3030
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Really interesting history on these US coins minted for the Philippines while it was a US territory--especially the 1944-S. It's the size of a US quarter and an uncommon find in the dirt here in the US. What a story this coin could tell! 
Here's a bit of history:
During the 1942 through 1944 Japanese occupation of the Philippines, nearly all coins disappeared from circulation. In the occupied areas the Japanese collected all of the coins, melted them down, and shipped them back to Japan. The few pre-war coins that escaped the melting pots were hoarded and hid away until after the war. Most daily commerce was conducted with low denomination paper currency (Emergency or Guerilla Currency) printed by Guerrilla military units, local municipalities, or Military and Civilian Currency Boards authorized by General MacArthur or the Commonwealth government-in-exile under President Quezon.
During the Japanese occupation there was a very active resistance movement in the Philippines, and allied intelligence was very much aware, of the economic situation in the islands, and the need to bring new coins and currency with them when they liberated the Philippines.
In preparation for General MacArthur's return to the Philippines, the Treasury Department ordered the San Francisco Mint to strike millions of One Centavo coins. When American forces liberated the Philippines in 1944 - 1945 they brought with them Fifty Eight Million 1944-S One Centavo victory coins.
The 1944-S USA-Philippine One Centavo uses the same obverse and reverse designs as the pre-war One Centavo. It has the same weight and diameter as the pre-war issues but uses a different wartime composition. The war-time alloy was made from salvaged shell casings and used no tin in order to conserve that strategic metal for the war effort. Since the resulting coins had no tin in them they are actually brass rather than bronze. The wartime brass alloy consisted of 95% copper and 5% zinc. This is the same alloy the mint used for the production of U.S. wartime pennies dated 1944-1946. The mint produced this alloy by combining ingots of pure copper with salvaged 70% copper shell casings.
Here's a bit of history:
During the 1942 through 1944 Japanese occupation of the Philippines, nearly all coins disappeared from circulation. In the occupied areas the Japanese collected all of the coins, melted them down, and shipped them back to Japan. The few pre-war coins that escaped the melting pots were hoarded and hid away until after the war. Most daily commerce was conducted with low denomination paper currency (Emergency or Guerilla Currency) printed by Guerrilla military units, local municipalities, or Military and Civilian Currency Boards authorized by General MacArthur or the Commonwealth government-in-exile under President Quezon.
During the Japanese occupation there was a very active resistance movement in the Philippines, and allied intelligence was very much aware, of the economic situation in the islands, and the need to bring new coins and currency with them when they liberated the Philippines.
In preparation for General MacArthur's return to the Philippines, the Treasury Department ordered the San Francisco Mint to strike millions of One Centavo coins. When American forces liberated the Philippines in 1944 - 1945 they brought with them Fifty Eight Million 1944-S One Centavo victory coins.
The 1944-S USA-Philippine One Centavo uses the same obverse and reverse designs as the pre-war One Centavo. It has the same weight and diameter as the pre-war issues but uses a different wartime composition. The war-time alloy was made from salvaged shell casings and used no tin in order to conserve that strategic metal for the war effort. Since the resulting coins had no tin in them they are actually brass rather than bronze. The wartime brass alloy consisted of 95% copper and 5% zinc. This is the same alloy the mint used for the production of U.S. wartime pennies dated 1944-1946. The mint produced this alloy by combining ingots of pure copper with salvaged 70% copper shell casings.
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