Franco 10 Centimos

This 10 Centimos coin was one of the first in Spain to use aluminum exclusively, a shift driven by postwar material shortages and the need to keep costs down.

That meant it weighed next to nothing compared to its copper predecessors, making it easy to carry but a nuisance in pockets full of change. The obverse featured the face value encircled by a wreath, while the reverse showed the Spanish coat of arms under Franco's regime—a design that varied slightly year to year but stayed simple.

Mintage figures aren't precisely known for every year; records from the Madrid mint during that era are spotty at best. Still, these coins circulated widely until the 1960s, when inflation rendered them practically worthless.

If you're handling one, note the edge is reeded, which helped prevent counterfeits in an age when forgery was rampant.