Value 0.05 Philippine peso Diameter 15.5 mm Years of minting 1903–present | Mass 1.9 g Composition Copper plated steel | |
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Edge Plain (with 4 mm central hole) | ||
The Philippine five centavo coin (5¢) coin is the second-lowest denomination coin of the Philippine peso after the one centavo. It is identical in its dimensions to the one centavo coin, thus it features a hole through its middle.
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Pre-Independence
No coin worth 1/20 of a peso circulated during the Spanish rule of the Philippines, when the 10 centimo coin was the lowest denomination of the Philippine peso fuerte.
The first five centavo was minted in 1903, the first year of minting during the American rule of the country, gained after the Spanish–American War. The coin's images were identical to those of the half-centavo and one centavo coin.
The obverse featured a native by a volcano, with the coin's denomination above him, and the inscription 'Filipinas' underneath. The reverse featured the American coat of arms, and had the inscription 'United States of America' circling it. The year of issue was underneath the coat of arms.
The last minting of this first coin was in 1928, a smaller version was minted between 1930 and 1935. In 1937 the coat of arms was changed to a Philippine one and this coin was issued until 1945
Due to its low buying power, (an exchange rate in November 2014 gives it a value of 0.0011 USD, 0.0007 GBP, 0.000878 EUR, or 267 Uzbek tiyin ) the coin is commonly used as a keyring decoration or as a washer due to its hole.