Manila Mint

The Manila Mint (Spanish: Real Casa de la Moneda y Timbre de Manila) was a coinage mint that briefly served as a branch of the United States Mint, located in Manila, now the capital city of the Philippines.

Originally constructed from 1857 through 1861 under the auspices of the Spanish government, the "Casa de Moneda" (as it was called then) began issuing gold coinage in the denominations of one, two, and four Pesos in 1861. On March 5, 1862, permission was also granted to coin silver coinage, which began in 1864 for the ten and twenty Centavo denominations, and 1865 for fifty Centavos. The coins all bore the image of the then-reigning Spanish Monarch, Queen Isabel II. In 1868, Isabel was deposed, but the mint continued to issue coinage in all six denominations until 1873, all dated 1868 and indistinguishable from those minted in 1868. In 1880 under the auspices of then-current Spanish King Alphonse XII, coinage production resumed, this time with the King's image, and a slightly lower silver content for the ten, twenty, and fifty Centavo denominations. Only a very small number of gold coins were issued, all being of the four Pesos denomination. In 1885 Alphonse XII died, with control of Spain to go to his (as yet unborn) son, Alphonse XIII. Once again, the Casa de Moneda continued to issue coins until 1898, all dated 1885 and indistinguishable from those minted in 1885.

Shortly after the Spanish–American War and a brief insurgency by the Filipinos, the country became a United States possession. Unlike all other territories taken by the United States, the United States soon began to produce a special coinage for the Philippines. To encourage circulation, the denominations were modeled on those produced by the Spanish, namely a silver Peso similar to that minted in Madrid in 1897, denominations of fifty, twenty (instead of twenty-five), and ten Centavos, and a one Centavo similar in size to some pattern cents minted by the Spanish. Also, noted Philippine sculptor Melecio Figueroa was enlisted to provide the designs for the coinage, creating a seated man design for the base metal denominations and a standing woman design for the silver denominations, which latter is thought to have been modeled on his daughter Bianca. In 1903 the San Francisco Mint began producing silver coins for the Philippines, and the Philadelphia Mint producing proofs and base metal coins, along with providing some additional silver issues for circulation. Coins minted in San Francisco had a small "S" mintmark placed to the left of the date; Philadelphia coins were without a mintmark. In 1904 all Spanish and other foreign coinage was demonetized.

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