Owner Comments:
.750 silver, 2.0 Grams, 16.5 mm. The Ten Centavos of 1937 through 1945 continued the same obverse design used on the 1903 through 1935 Ten Centavos. The reverse used the Commonwealth Arms design which was common to to the 1936 commemoratives and all Philippine coins from 1937 through 1945. Ten Centavos were made at the Manila Mint from 1937 through 1941, and at the the Denver Mint in 1944 and 1945.
Manila was occupied by the Japanese from January 1942 until March 1945. The Mint of the Philippine Islands was located in the Intendencia Building which was constructed by the Spanish in 1876 to earthquick-proof specifucations. This made the mint building extremely strong and a natural fortress for the Japanese garrison of Manila which deployed strong defenses in and around the mint building. The mint's location on the south bank of the Pasig River just north of the the only gap in the thirty foot wide walls of the ancient walled fortress of the Intramuros placed it directly on the Allied axis of attack during the month long (February 3, 1945 - March 3, 1945) Battle of Manila. In the fierce fighting to liberate Manila from the Japanese much of the city, including the grand old Manila Mint, was destroyed. "The Battle for Manila occupies a unique place in the history of the Pacific War. It was the only occasion on which American and Japanese forces fought each other in a city and it was the largest battle of its kind yet fought by either the American or Japanese armies (Connaughton 1995)."
The 1937 M Ten Centavos had a mintage of 3,500,000. The NGC population of this coin in MS65 is four coins with only one specimen graded higher. The combined (NGC, PCGS,) cerftified population for the 1937 M Ten Centavos in MS65 is eight coins with only five specimens graded higher. This coin is a fully struck, brilliant, untoned GEM.