Second Republic 10 Centimos

This 10 centimos coin from Spain's Second Republic in 1937 was struck entirely from zinc, a hasty substitute when the civil war depleted supplies of copper and other metals.

That choice reflected the Republic's dire circumstances, with minting operations squeezed into a few facilities amid the conflict. The obverse featured a simple design of a bundle of arrows, symbolizing unity, while the reverse showed the denomination and year—nothing ornate, just functional. Production likely occurred in Madrid or Barcelona, though records from that era are spotty at best.

We don't know the exact mintage figures; those details vanished with the Republican archives after Franco's victory. What we do know is that these coins circulated for barely two years before being withdrawn. Zinc, at least, didn't corrode as quickly as the Republic itself.