Ye Olde Peso Collection
Private
Updated:
7/10/2025
Views: 1,229
The history of these coins begin shortly after the Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898, as a result of the American victory in the Spanish–American War and the signing of the Treaty of Paris that same year.
⚜️Background
When the Americans occupied the Philippine islands in 1898 and 1899, they were faced with a messy and confusing monetary system—one with a mixture of different kinds of silver coins in circulation. To make matters worse, the American administration brought large amounts of American dollars into the Philippine islands, as payment for military personnel and for government expenditures. Now there were two major currencies circulating side by side: the dominant Mexican or Spanish "dollar", which was on the silver standard, and the American dollar, which was on the gold standard (Wolters, 2001, pp. 524-525).
Here’s why that was a problem: The American dollar, although made of silver, contained less silver than the Mexican dollar but had twice its value in the United States. But in the Far East, this one-to-two rate was not automatically maintained because the demand for Mexican dollars fluctuated widely internationally. Adding to this problem was the disappearance from circulation of most of the US silver coins which Americans spent in the Philippine islands (Wolters, 2001, p. 525).
So, in an effort to stabilize the currency, the Americans pushed ahead with their plans to put the Philippines on the gold standard, despite the predominantly negative view of the foreign business community in Manila. American economist and banker Charles Conant was tasked to formulate a plan in 1901, which subsequently formed the basis of an act of Congress, called the Philippine Coinage Act. The plan entailed the introduction of a gold standard with a theoretical gold peso as the unit of value. This unit was equivalent to one half of an American dollar. But for actual circulation, this theoretical gold peso would be represented by a silver peso, containing 416 grains of silver .900 fine, the same silver content as the Mexican dollar (Wolters, 2001, pp. 531-532).
On December 1902, the Philippine Commission prescribed the designs for the new Peso coin. It would measure 38mm in diameter (about the size of the Morgan dollar), weigh 29.95 grams, and have the composition of 90% silver and 10% copper. The following year, on March 7 (five days after the Philippine coinage system act was passed), the Treasury Secretary submitted for inspection and approval a specimen of the new peso coin for the Philippine Islands (Edwards, 1903, p. 415).
⚜️The 1903-1912 Peso
The coin designs preferred by the Secretary of War and officials of the Insular Affairs Bureau were created by Filipino sculptor Melecio Figueroa. These coins were unique because they were bi-national: The obverse design conveyed that it was a coin of the Philippine Islands, while the reverse was designed to "express the sovereignty of the United States."
⚜️The Obverse
In his report to Congress, then Bureau of Insular Affairs Chief Col. Clarence R. Edwards describes that the coin’s obverse features "the entire figure of a Filipino woman lightly clothed in loose costume, with tresses floating in the wind. She holds in her right hand a hammer which rests on an anvil.”
Many numismatic sources state that the model for the coin's "Lady Liberty," as she is called by some, was the designer's seven year old daughter Blanca. According to some accounts, the master engraver envisioned Blanca as a young lady for his design, and thus the resulting image on the coin is "well proportioned, the pose natural and graceful, and well modeled” (Edwards, p. 414).
The top legend denotes the coin's value, "One Peso," along with "Filipinas" below, the reference that undeniably makes it a Philippine coin. In the background to the right of Lady Liberty is the Mayon volcano, "a perfect cone, therefore typical in that none other of such symmetry exists," reports Col. Edwards, summing that the overall design communicates the thought that "it is by earnest labor that the Filipinos must work out their destiny, under the guidance of the United States."
⚜️The Reverse
The coin's reverse on the other hand, was designed to "express the sovereignty of the United States," according to Col. Edwards. It features "a shield surmounted with an eagle with outstretched wings, unmistakably American, and at the same time so different from the devices on the United States silver dollar, fifty-cent piece, and quarter as not to be easily confounded." Surrounding the device is the legend "United States of America", the mintmark (on those that have it), and the year.
Referred to in some sources as the "Arms of US territories", the main design on the reverse consists of the broad winged North American bald eagle, its left talon grasping an olive branch and the right talon grasping three spears, denoting peace and war. Directly below is an American shield divided into two registers. The upper register has 13 stars, and the lower register has 13 vertical stripes. The date, along with a mint mark in some, appear at the bottom, and the legend "United States of America" appears at the top.
⚜️The Set
This set contains 20 coins. Eighteen are from the Insular Government period (coins dated 1903-1912) and two from the Commonwealth period (coins dated 1936).
⚜️Creating the Set
My numismatic interest is in Philippine crown-sized coins. It started, as it does with a lot of collectors, when I was a boy, but fizzled out when I reached my teens, then re-emerged later in life. My re-kindled interest in numismatics focused on Philippine one-peso coins--first a USPI peso collection, followed by the Culion leper colony pesos, and progressing to Philippine Republic pesos.
Assembling this set was fun, interesting, and a bit challenging, but not too difficult overall. My very first encapsulated coin was a PCGS, but I soon after decided to go with NGC because their slabs appealed to me more than the other TGPs. Almost all of the coins in this set had to be purchased already encapsulated, save a couple.
I settled on collecting mainly at the MS 63 grade so I would be able to acquire (and enjoy) coins within the constraints of a reasonable budget. For USPI coins, this grade gives me an attractive uncirculated coin that still has its luster, sharp details, and eye appeal. I do have a few 64s in this set which I had the opportunity to acquire for a good deal. Also, since some of the coins in this series are scarce at the mint state level, I had to settle for AU grades, but decided on nothing less than 58s. My 1903 for this set, although not scarce, is an AU58 because I already have one in MS63 in an old ANACS holder and I want to keep it that way. The final exception that I had to make to my 63 rule was when it came time to acquire the king of the USPI pesos. My indecisiveness on a couple of opportunities to acquire a nice AU specimen resulted in a less than full-grade coin as prices made a sudden leap to the moon at the time.
⚜️Goals
I enjoy collecting these coins because I find them attractive, interesting, and historical. I chose to build this set because frankly, what started out as a plan to simply collect just the proofs, quickly escalated to the entire series. So why not put them in the registry, right?
My goal was to complete the set, and I am proud to say that I have achieved it recently. So, now my goal is shifting to improving this set, which is going to be a tall order considering the recent skyrocketing of USPI peso coin prices! But in addition to set completion and improvement, I also have as a goal (on a smaller scale), the desire to share these beautiful coins with you, and provide information about the history behind them (plus some events that occurred in the Philippines during each of the minting years.)
I really enjoy learning about a coin's history, and because of that, I have included as much information about these coins as I have found so I can share it with you. I hope you enjoy browsing this set.
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📖 Information sources:
Wolters, W. G. (2001). Flooded with foreign coins. Spanish and American administrators dealing with currency. Problems in the Philippines, 1890-1905, Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 157(3), 511-538. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-90003800
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. For more information see
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Edwards, C.R. (1903). App J (VI): The Execution of the Philippine Coinage Act. In Stability of International Exchange - Report On the Introduction of the Gold-Exchange Into China and Other Silver-Using Countries (pp 414-422). U.S. Government Printing Office.
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