5 Centavos

The 1944 issue marks a wartime substitution forced by silver shortages — the prewar .750 fine standard was abandoned in favor of this debased billon alloy, an unusual composition incorporating manganese rather than the more typical copper-nickel alternative adopted by most nations under similar pressures. The Dominican Republic under Trujillo maintained the coin's outward appearance while gutting its intrinsic value, a fiscal sleight of hand that went unremarked publicly given the regime's tight control over the press.