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Specifications: Bronze, 40 Grains (95% copper, 5% zinc and tin), 17.5 mm.

Business strikes of the Half Centavos coin were struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1903 and 1904. 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 reverse design depicts an eagle with spread wings perched atop an American shield. The Half Centavos coin was poorly accepted by the public and no further business strikes of this denomination were made after 1904. For lack of use over 7,500,000 Half Centavos were withdrawn from circulation. Most of these were sent back to the United States where they were melted and then re-coined into One Centavos pieces in 1908. That leaves a little less than 60% of the origional total mintage still available to collectors today. A limited number of Proof Half Centavos were produced at the Philadelphia mint from 1903 through 1908. The 1903 Half Centavo had a mintage of 2,558 proof coins and 10,790,000 business strikes.

This FULL RED SUPERB GEM is one of the finest examples of a USA/Philippines Half Centavo business strike. The NGC population for the 1903 Half Centavo in MS66 Red is only eight specimens with none graded finer. The Combined NGC/PCGS population for all Half Centavo business strikes (1903 and 1904) in MS66 Red is 24 specimens with only two specimens graded higher.