Philippine Coins: 1967 Limampung Sentimos Pilipino Series

The coin series following the English Series coins was called the Pilipino Series. This marks the beginning of all Philippine coins being minted in the Tagalog language and features prominent Filipino people in history instead of the seated man and lady liberty featured in earlier coins. The word “sentimo” replaced “centavo” and a number denoting the value was also added to the obverse.

Minting started in 1967, but for this series most coins were minted 1 year after the reflected date. Some of the 1967 coins were minted in 1968, and most, if not all, of the 1972 coins were minted in 1973. Most coins from this series were minted in various mints in the United States and in other mints in neighboring Asian countries. The 1 Piso was introduced in this series in 1972 making it the largest denomination of this coin series. Production of these coins stopped in 1974.

I had a bit of difficulty finding coins in this series in their first minting year. I had to spend a bit to complete a series that features coins in their first year of minting – 1967 for the 1 Sentimo to 50 Sentimos, and 1972 for the 1 Piso.

In this post, I will be featuring the LIMAMPUNG SENTIMOS (Fifty Centavo) coin.

1967 Limampung Sentimos
OBVERSE

“LIMAMPUNG SENTIMOS”
Bust of Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaytan
(Click name for more info)
“MARCELO H.”
“DEL PILAR”
“50”
Metal: Copper-nickel-zinc

1967 Limampung Sentimos
REVERSE

REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS
Coat of arms
1967
Weight: 8 g
Diameter: 27.5 mm
Thickness: 1.95 mm

Marcelo H. del Pilar was a propagandist of the Philippine Revolution. He was a lawyer who defended the poor against the abuses of the Spanish clergy. He became the editor of the reformist periodical, La Solidaridad and was popularly known by his pen name, Plaridel. He founded the Diariong Tagalog as a means to propagate ideals of democracy to the farmers and peasants. He died in Spain, but his remains were later brought back to the Philippines. He is the pride of Bulacan.

I found this coin in the bargain bin at one of the coin dealers here. It’s got a lot of stains and tarnishes, but details are still clear. Coins of this denomination were minted in the years, 1967, 1971, 1972, and 1974.

Trivia:

There are two types minted in 1972. There were minor differences in the year (1972). It would be great to have these types of coins. For more info on the types, click here.

Click the links below to view other coins of this series or click here to view the list of coins under the Pilipino Series.

Isang Sentimo (1 Centavo)
Limang Sentimos (5 Centavos)
Sampung Sentimos (10 Centavos)
Dalawamput Limang Sentimos (25 Centavos)
Piso (1 Peso)

Enjoy!

~ by MAV on January 10, 2014.