Manila Mint

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.

Once again, the Casa de Moneda continued to issue coins until 1898, all dated 1885 and indistinguishable from those minted in 1885.

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.

In 1908, the San Francisco mint was finally authorized to coin base metal cents, and was thus positioned to take over all coinage production for the Philippines after that.

It produced coins until 1922 and then again from 1925 to 1941, when the Japanese Empire invaded the Philippines during World War II.

On July 4, 1946, the era of the Commonwealth ended as independence was granted to the Philippines as a sovereign nation.

The Manila Mint struck coins in the following denominations: Base Metal Denominations (identical to alloys used for United States One Cent and Five Cents) Silver Denominations (seventy-five percent silver for Ten through Fifty Centavos and eighty percent for the One Peso) Leper Colony Coinage (struck in aluminum 1920 and brass all later years) In addition, a medal (commonly called the 'Wilson Dollar,' owing to having a design featuring then-current U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and being similar in size to a silver dollar) was issued in gold, silver, and copper in 1920 to commemorate the opening of the Manila Mint.