Philippine silver peso

[Monkey King]

Found this webpage, which makes really interesting reading.....

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Fort-Mills

Fort Mills (Corregidor, the Philippines) was the location of US Major General George F. Moore's headquarters for the Philippine Department's Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays. This was one of the locations at which, under the National Defense Act of 1935, coastal artillery training was conducted.

Also known as "the Rock," it was a key bastion of the Allies during the war. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in December 1941, the military force under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur carried out a delaying action at Bataan. Corregidor became the headquarters of the Allied forces and also the seat of the Philippine Commonwealth government. It was from Corregidor that Philippine President Manuel Quezon and General MacArthur left for Australia in February 1942, leaving behind Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright in command.

With the certain fall of Corregidor, the Commonwealth government did their best to dispose of any war materiale that might fall into Japanese hands. Along with ammo, oil, and canned food supplies, the defenders also had the Philippine National Treasury and Phlippine National Bank with them. This included Gold & Silver specie and bullion, bearer bonds, Treasury certificates, precious stones, and privately held gold items and mementos. This treasure trove included 140 tons of silver pesos (Philippine peso coins). Not all of this treasure was lost with the fall of Corregidor - two tons of gold ingots and sixteen tons of silver pesos in canvas bags were loaded onto the submarine USS Trout as ballast to replace the supplies it ran to the island's defenders. Can you imagine sitting in a sub with 16 TONS of these, many in uncirculated condition? The submariners were rather nonchallant - they broke open the bags and even used them as poker chips in their downtime. Everything else went into the deep waters of the San Jose Bay to deny it to the Japanese.

Although Bataan fell on April 9, 1942, the Philippine and American forces held out at Corregidor for 27 days against great odds. On May 6, 1942, their rations depleted, the Allied forces were forced to surrender Corregidor to Lt. Gen. Homma Masaharu of the Japanese Imperial Army after having successfully halted the Japanese advance on Australia.

Within a month, the Japanese were forcing US Navy Diver prisoners of war to dive for the coins at bayonet-point. But the divers did not want these coins to fall into the hands of the Emperor?s troops that easily, and instead of sending to the surface whole bags or cases of silver, they purposely broke open the cases on the bottom, ripped the bags, and sent up only partial containers. The sabotage attempts proved somewhat successful and the Japanese command only recovered about two million pesos, only a fraction of what was on the bottom.

The big guns of Corregidor are now silent and the ruins of buildings, structures, and tunnels in the island tell a very moving story of a war that has claimed so many lives. A visit to this former battleground is a memorable experience especially for those who cherish and value peace and freedom. In his speech delivered at the signing of the surrender of Japan aboard the USS Missouri at Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur said, "It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past - a world founded upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice."

Edited January 20, 2009 by Monkey King

[Monkey King]

The US minted coins for the Philippines from 1903-1945.

These coins came in 1/2 centavo (minted only 1903-1908 with 17.7 million coins; yet unpopular with public and so were discontinued), 1 centavo, 5 centavo, 10 centavo, 20 centavo, 50 centavo, and 1 peso varieties. The 1/2 and 1 centavo coins were bronze, the 5 centavo nickel, the 10, 20, 50 centavo and peso coins were silver. From 1903-1906, the silver coins had a high content (90% silver, also known as coin silver). The composition was reduced in 1907, due to a jump in silver prices. There was a fear that many of the coins would be melted down for their silver value (which came to pass at various times, especially the 1980's when silver topped $40/troy ounce).

The obverse of these coins remained unchanged over their entire run. They were designed by Melecio Figueroa. It has the denomination of the coin written on it, along with "Filipinas". The 1/2 centavo, 1 centavo, and 5 centavo coins all show a Filipino man kneeling against a anvil, with a hammer resting at his side. He is on the left side (foreground), while in the right side (background) there is a simmering volcano, Mt. Mayon, topped with smoke rings. This figure is an allegory for the hard work being done by the native peoples of the Philippines in building their own future.

The obverse of the 10, 20, 50 centavo, and peso coins are similar, but they show the figure of Liberty, a standing female figure (considered by many to be the daughter of the designer 'Blanca') in the act of striking the anvil with a hammer. This was done to show the work being done by Americans in building a better Philippines. Something can probably be read into racial attitudes at the time, since the coins show the Filipino man sitting down, and Liberty working. Also, Liberty (and by extension, America) appears on the silver coins, instead of the base metal coins.

The reverse of the coins comes in two varieties. The earliest coins were minted when the islands were a US Territory, and they bear the arms of the US Territories. This is a braodwinged eagle, sitting atop a shield divided into two registers. The upper register has 13 stars, and the lower register has 13 vertical stripes. The date appears at the bottom, and "United States of America" appears at the top.

When the islands became a US Commonwealth, the arms of the Commonwealth were adopted. This seal is composed of a much smaller eagle with its wings pointed up, perched over a shield with peaked corners, above a scroll reading "Commonwealth of the Philippines". It is a much busier pattern, and widely considered less attractive.

These coins were minted at the Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver, and (after it was opened in 1920) Manila mints. Most of the Manila mintages occured after 1925. They have S, D, and M mint marks. Several proof sets were made for collectors, from 1903 to 1908. These were unpopular at the time, and many were later broken up and released into circulation. Some coins were minted in extremely small numbers (as few as 500 pieces occurred in 1905, 1906, & 1908). Also, many were lost when the defenders of Corregidor threw them into the ocean, rather than surrender the Philippine national treasury to the Japanese. Only about 80% were ever recovered, and many of those were badly corroded. However the rarest coins are the 1906-s Peso with as few as 250 coins in existance; but the rarest is the 1910-s Ten Centavaos with the only known coin which was on display at the Manila mint, being lost due to the bombing of Manila in 1945 as that the mint building was completely destroyed. The Place Corregidor is an island in the entrance of the Philippines Manila Bay. ...

Three commemorative coins were minted to celebrate the Commonwealth in 1936. These coins are remarkable because they are the only existing US coins to show people who were alive when they were minted. They show President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon and U.S. High Commissioner Frank Murphy, who also has served as the last Governor General of the Islands. The 50 centavo commemorative had only 20,000 minted, in 75% silver, and weighs 10 grams (the same specs as other 50 centavos). The two varieties of peso commemorative each had 10,000 minted. They weigh 20 grams, and are 90% silver.

[Monkey King]

"At the end of April, 115 tons of silver coins were dumped into San Jose Bay, where they were dispersed by tides."