Early Beginnings and Spanish Influence
The Philippine peso has a rich history that dates back to the colonial period. During the Spanish era, the currency used in the Philippines was heavily influenced by Spanish monetary systems. The symbol "$" was commonly used for the peso, similar to other Spanish colonies [1:4]. This influence persisted until the American colonization when the "₱" symbol was adopted
[1:7].
First Banknote of the Philippine Republic (1898)
The first banknotes of the Philippine Republic were issued in 1898 under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo. These notes were backed by the country's natural resources and were used for a short period before being largely destroyed by American forces [1]. The design of these early banknotes was quite intricate, featuring ornamental characters typical of printing presses of that time
[1:2].
Philippine National Bank Notes (1916-1937)
In 1916, the Philippine National Bank began issuing its own set of notes. These notes were part of an effort to drive the economy, particularly focusing on agriculture. The bank continued to issue notes until 1937 and even allowed guerrilla emergency notes during World War II [2].
US-Philippine Currency (1908-1928)
During the American colonial period, the US-Philippine currency was introduced. The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), originally established as "El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II" in 1851, played a significant role in issuing these notes. By 1908, the bank had started issuing new notes, including silver certificates, which featured allegorical figures [3].
Modern Era and Coinage
The modern era saw various changes in the design and composition of Philippine currency. The Pilipino Series, issued between 1967 and 1974, marked a significant transition in coinage. Notably, the last coins with silver content were commemorative, and regular circulation coins no longer contained silver [5:1]
[5:2].
Collecting Historical Currency
Collectors today value historical Philippine currency highly. Rare notes from different eras, such as those from the BPI or the early Republic, are sought after due to their limited availability and historical significance [1:5]
[3:3]. Collectors often find these notes through auctions, local groups, or dedicated numismatic events
[3:2].
This overview provides a glimpse into the complex history of the Philippine peso, reflecting the nation's colonial past and its journey towards economic independence.
I acquired this last Saturday during FCAS' auction. Their value is backed up by the natural resources of our country. Only a short time of usage, and most were burned by the Americans making them rare and highly sought after.
Translation:
One peso
Republic of the Philippines
The President of the Republic Emilio Aguinaldo.
This ticket will be exchanged and received by the Philippine Republic in payment of taxes, customs duties and all kind of obligations.
Republic of the Philippines.
The President of the Governing Council Pedro A. Paterno.
The counterfeiter will be punished with the full rigor of the law.
I have some observations to make.
First of all, the design. I can determine how the bills are designed; the ornamentation appears to be those ornamental characters that printing presses of the day would use. That shows that they were artistically arranged to produce the design of the bill. For example, note the borders of the "1"'s at each corner of the upper photo, they are made of asterisks. The inner border of the lower photo is made of the same character. The type of the "Republica Filipina" text appears very familiar to me, I believe it was used in the Spanish printing of Aguinaldo's "Reseña veridica de la revolucion filipina", published in Tarlac around the same time as this. The printer's name, "Z. Fajardo", below the text "Papel moneda" in the lower photo, is proof enough that unconventional use of an conventional printing press was used to compose these banknotes.
Paterno's title, "Presidente del Consejo de Gobierno", is precisely what leads him to be called a "Prime Minister" of the Philippines, alongside Mabini, his predecessor. They were not prime ministers in the common definition because they were not the head of government; the constitution bestowed that power on the President of the Republic (an office only filled by Aguinaldo, the civil structure of the Philippine Republic was gone by the time Malvar assumed leadership). They qualify to be called prime ministers on a technicality because, as the constitutionally chosen heads of the President's body of ministers (officially the Council of Government or Consejo del Gobierno) and having duties unique to the head of that body, they were very much literally the "prime" ministers of the President of the Republic.
This bill being issued under the Paterno prime ministry (I can't recall if any was published during Mabini's term) also shows how active the civil part of the Philippine government was even in the face of American invasion, as Mabini was forced to resign out of delicadeza only when the American threat grew exponentially larger than it was when Mabini was appointed. I actually haven't read any sources about their use as legal tender.
So back then they did not use ₱ instead, they used $ just like Mexico.
Yung ₱ na simbolo ng PHP ay inadopta nung panahon ng mga amerikano.
Etong $ ay popular na simbolo ng peso sa lahat ng mga kolonya ng españa. You’ll see this in much of Latin American countries that use the “peso” as their currency.
Bakit sa atin lang nagkaibang simbolo ng peso? I might also ask this as a separate post.
Because there was a time 1$= 1peso
Damn this is really cool! How much did you get this for?
I was watching the lots. This one was around 2k usd plus 15% buyer’s premium. These are really interesting notes, and is one of my long-term goals as a collector.
Correct! Also, we might know each other? hahahaha
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The Philippine National Bank was an institution established to further drive the economy, especially towards the agricultural sector. It was government established with Henry Parker Willis as the first president, it became privatized in 2007. They issued notes from 1916-37, however they also allowed/issued guerilla emergency notes in WW2.
I always enjoy seeing these colorful notes from the 1916 series. Tough to find at shows anymore.
Killer !
>Killer !
killing is wrong mmkay?
Killing is bad:)
The 2 pesos note is extremely tough.
This high denomination note was issued under BPI, which is the oldest bank established in Southeast Asia. Its first iteration was in the form of “El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II” dating back to 1851 under the reign of Isabel II. The institution issued the oldest banknotes in the Philippines under Isabel II in 1852, those notes were extremely large in size. In 1908, they had issued new notes in the size of the more popular Philippine silver certificates featuring female allegorical figures . Subsequently in 1912, the bank re-christened itself from its previous Spanish title to “Bank of the Philippine Islands” AKA “BPI”under Act No.1790. They were then privatized and allowed note-issuing privileges till 1949 when the Philippines gained independence and only allowed the Central Bank of the Philippines to issue notes (now known as Bangko Sentral ng Filipinas). Not a lot of these notes survived due to burning in WW2 and redemption, coupled with their extremely low printing runs (as this issue only had 2100 ever printed)
Wow very cool note! Seems like a rare one!
Yeah, it’s tough, because collectors here in Manila have been demanding more BPI banknotes as of late, and the bank printed few notes in the first place as well. However, I can still find some good deals in local Facebook groups, but you have to dig for them. That’s where I found this 100 peso note for sale.
Oh wow, yah I love these older notes from the Philippines and this is my first time seeing an example of this one so that makes sense.
This is a tougher note to find. A lot of the ones I've seen have issues of some sort. It's very difficult to find a problem free example. So collectors, if you are looking to add one to your collection, you can't be too choosy on this issue. There just are not that many to go around. Congrats on your pick-up of this rare 100 Pesos issue.
Shout out to the honest gentleman who sold this note to me at a good price!
Nice note! 👌🏽
Awesome note!
Wanted to share some of my filipino paper (and polymer) money over time. It isn’t a complete set but theres some examples from most of the series - US Commonwealth to present.
bangis nung half pesos hahahaha.
Awesome and extensive collection! Handed down to you or did you hunt for them, specially those from the pre 60’s?
60s and up mostly given by family. Pre 60s mostly bought over the years.
Sad that new bank note’s doesn’t have our heroes faces.
🐐- 1973-85s
Very cool.
If anyone is curious, BPI at Santo Niño in Cebu has a little musseum with currency from pretty much the early colonial period until our days.
The last peso that actually had silver in it.
The last coin Po na may silver content ay puro commemorative coins. Wala pong silver content ang 1 peso 1972 at 1974.
Ganun ba…. I was told that in childhood… All this time yan ang paniwala ko.
Ah ok thanks… Magkano ngayon selling price one peso na Pilipino series (cheapest to most expensive)
Depende Po sa condition usually circulated 10p to 100p most pag UNC. Pag lumampas dun lokohan na Po.
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Howabout English series na piso?
Wala pong Piso na coin Ang English series. 50 centavos Po Ang Meron. No idea kung magkano Siya ngaun.
I thought it would be interesting to trace the history of the Philippine Peso and so I wrote. The article is about the currency from 1903-1905 and how the Gold Standard plays a part in the development of the Philippines. :)
https://raphaelcanillas.com/2023/10/17/php-an-american-alteration/
Yes, this is certainly interesting. It might be interesting to take a look as well at money, banking, and the domestic economy towards the end of the Spanish period right before this period you are looking at of 1903-1905. I know that there is precious little in terms of the literature, but I do remember going through some tangential materials in both English and Spanish. Will try to scrounge around for materials. Meanwhile, good luck, hope you push this some more!
Thank you, I hope you liked it and shared it! Is it okay if I reach out to learn about your source material? :)
Sorry for late reply... still looking for my e-documents/ materials, will share asap
I searched my docs and found this article before. But rather than sharing my docs, will just refer you to an online site where you can download the article and similar ones. This is about the tribute system, what it was, what it was not (compared to what most Filipinos think of it), etc and try to imagine a tax system with incomplete monetization / money supply.
This one is called "Gaming the System: The Tribute System in the Spanish system.
There's a lot of references and citations, although you may have to understand Spanish to read the original references...
In the course of looking for the original article, I found this one, which is newly published, about the abolition of the tribute system. I haven't read it yet though...
https://ajol.ateneo.edu/pshev/articles/580/7568
This might keep you really busy, hahaha but worth doing if you ask me.
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Interesting, tactical dot
Thank you! Hope you liked it and shared it! :)
The Philippine National Bank was an institution established to further drive the economy, especially towards the agricultural sector. It was government established with Henry Parker Willis as the first president, it became privatized in 2007. They issued notes from 1916-37, however they also allowed/issued guerilla emergency notes in WW2.
They are so pretty I hope I can have them in the future. Iam a collector too.
Good luck with the 2P. It’s really tough to find.
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Personally, my favorite is the NDS series (seen on the second column), its like each banknote has its own distinct and unique style (especially on the 200 and 500 pesos), same with the ABL series from the 70s.
Overall, I appreciate the Central Bank knowing how to evolve our money's designs and to catch up with technology, especially with the rise of counterfeiters, and how they know to switch things up a bit (unlike the U.S. dollar).
Very cool! It's not uncommon for lower denomination banknotes to be replaced by coins, but it's interesting that the 200 piso was discontinued in the latest polymer series.
The reason I heard is that there wasn't a high demand for them—people could easily get by with a couple of 100s. To me, this is similar to the 50-dollar bill in the US. Few people would miss it—the 100 and 20 can handle things without the 50 around.
IMO, the 200 peso bill is more similar to the 2 dollar bill, especially since it's so scarce that many Filipinos have never even seen one, let alone think it exists, same with the 2 dollar bill.
This is also where the 200 peso gets its nickname, "The 2-dollar Bill of the East."
Fascinating, thank you. I wasn’t aware that it was that rare. Soon to be even more rare, I guess.
Where is the 100,000 ?
It is a non-circulating commemorative series, it is also demonetized now.
I like the way you lined them up. Are they all still legal tender?
The first two columns aren’t legal tender anymore. Those are also not exchangeable through the central bank anymore. At least the current designs are consistent everywhere with no different designs.
Wow ! Very cool to seem all of them like this !!!
Wanted to share my type set collection of filipino coins over the years. It’s mostly complete except for some commemorative issues here and there. Spanish/American eras-present day.
Wowowow. Hope there's like a digital mag for these. Huhuhu it's so hard to chance upon this kind of collection of private collectors.
Nice collection you got there, I also have some, but the oldest was 1982
Nice! Neat collection OP👍
This is an amazing collection! 👏
And now we have the indistinguishable 5 and 10 peso coins
treasury/silver certificates, BPI and PNB circulating notes. A couple years worth of effort, but it’s fulfilling to see them in totality.
Wow! I have no idea there were this many variations! Love the designs of these notes very American-like
Yes, this notes were a tool used by the colonial government to Americanise the people.
This is the coolest collection I’ve seen in a while! Or ever! Looks like a rainbow, beautiful.
Very nice collection
Killer Set!
That's an impressive display. You even have a Legazpi! The backs with their vibrant colors are quite popular and have led many people to collect these notes. It used to be at the larger shows a fair number of dealers had Philippines notes, now only a few. Today it's somewhat tougher to put a collection like this together. Well done!
what is the history of the philippine peso
Key Considerations in the History of the Philippine Peso:
Spanish Colonial Era (1565-1898):
American Colonial Period (1898-1946):
World War II and Japanese Occupation (1942-1945):
Post-War Era (1946-1960s):
Floating Exchange Rate (1970s-Present):
Current Status:
Takeaway: The Philippine peso has a rich history influenced by colonial rule, economic changes, and global events. Understanding its evolution provides insight into the country's economic development and current financial landscape.
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