Owner Comments:
Mintage: 20,000 *
Composition: Silver
Fineness: 0.7500
Weight: 10.0000g (154.32 grains)
ASW: 0.2411oz
Diameter: 27.5 mm
Mint Mark: M
In 1936 the Manila Mint produced a set of three coins to commemorate the founding of the Commonwealth Of The Philippines on November 15,1935. The set consisted of a Fifty Centavos, and two One Peso Coins. The coins were designed by Ambrosio Morales, a Professor of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines. The two commemorative Pesos were struck in .800 fineness silver. The Fifty Centavos was struck in .750 fineness silver. The three coin set had a face value of 2.5 Pesos, equal to $1.25 in U.S. Dollars, and sold for $3.13.
The obverse design of the Murphy-Quezon Fifty Centavos features portraits of the first Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon and U.S. Governor General Frank Murphy. The reverse design depicts the official seal of "The Commonwealth of the Philippines".
* The actual number of existing Murphy-Quezon Fifty Centavos is far less than the mintage figures would suggest as many of these coins were crated and thrown into Manila Bay, near Corregidor, in 1942 to avoid seizure by the invading forces of Japan.
The NGC population for this coin in MS 65 is thirty-nine specimens with only five coins graded higher. The combined NGC/PCGS certified population for the 1936 Murphy-Quezon Fifty Centavos in MS65 is sixty-seven coins with only seven coins graded higher (12/01/2013). This NGC MS-65 specimen is a fully struck, silver toned GEM.