Owner Comments:
The obverse design by Melicio Figueroa 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 reverse design, also by Melicio Figueroa, depicts an eagle with spread wings perched atop an American shield.
At a weight of 13.48 Grams of .900 Silver the Large (30 mm) Fifty Centavos, minted from 1903 through 1906 had a silver content equal to the U.S. Barber Half Dollar. With an official exchange rate of two Philippine Pesos to one U.S. dollar it was not long before the value of the silver content in the Large Fifty Centavos exceeded its face value and many were melted during the great silver melts of the period. In 1906 the silver coins held in reserve by the Treasury to back the Philippine paper money then in circulation were exported to the U.S. for re-coinage into the reduced size and weight pieces which followed in 1907. Lyman Allen estimates that less than 20% of all 1903-1906 silver coinages exist today in any grade.
Business strikes were coined at the Philadelphia Mint in 1903 and 1904 and the San Francisco Mint from 1903 through 1905. Proofs of the Large Fifty Centavos were made in very limited quantities at the Philadelphia Mint from 1903 through 1906. Proof sets were not sold in any sort of protective packaging or cases but were contained in plain paper envelopes and each coin was wrapped individually in thin tissue paper. This method of packaging has contributed to the micro thin hairline scratches seen on most proof coins as well as the heavy toning often seen.
Choice and GEM proof coins are very scarce. The mintage for 1903 Proof Fifty Centavos is 2,558 coins. The NGC population of 1903 Fifty Centavos in Proof-65 is 8 coins with 16 specimens graded higher. The combined (NGC, PCGS, ANACS) certified population for this coin in PF65 is 28 coins with 29 specimens graded higher. This specimen is an attractive, well struck, lightly toned GEM.