Franco 2 Centimos

What stands out about the 2 centimos coin is that it was minted from aluminum salvaged during Spain's post-war scrap drives, a practical choice when copper was scarce and the economy was in tatters.

This coin, produced between 1947 and 1953 under Franco's regime, featured a simple design: the national arms on one side and a wreath on the other, all struck at the Madrid mint. Aluminum planchets were lightweight, which meant they wore down quickly in circulation, but they kept costs low for a country still recovering from civil war and isolation. Not every detail is clear; mintage figures for certain years remain unrecorded, likely lost in bureaucratic disarray.

One oddity: these coins were so thin you could almost see through them if you held one up to the light. That didn't stop them from being useful, though.