Please check out this new page on the new Philippine bank notes. The new designs for the coins are not yet available, as they will be introduced in 2012.--Jeroen.

It is up to the seller to be aware of what he is selling just as much as it is up to buyer to be aware of what he is buying. Many worn-down silver coins are indeed worth their scrap metal value: there are plenty of them in better condition to supply the demand of collectors (and price is all about supply and demand). The warning against polishing coins is also easy to understand: it destroys the details of the coin, and thereby diminishes its value. Now once in a while, a coin trader will come across something really valuable in a lot, and then you can't blame them selling it at the market value, but most of the time, their margins won't be thousand to one (and prices asked are certainly not prices realized).--Jeroen.

Thanks for the hint, I've added a small section to the article for coin collectors.--Jeroen.

I think it is total hogwash... The production process of coins doesn't allow you to easily change the slabs from which coins are made, and gold is kept in saves far away from coin production plants. Reminds me of the story by Helen Mary Fee cited in this article about brand new copper coins taken for gold.--Jeroen.

Such coins where common some 15 years ago. I still have one just for keepsake.--Jeroen.

This is a well-known hoax (nonsense story). There is no gold in those bi-metal 10 peso coins.--Jeroen

Just email it to me. I currently have no way to post images in user comments, but if nice, can add pics to the article.--Jeroen.

The webmaster of this site is always very much interested in receiving high-resolution scans of Philippine currency notes, especially of rare WW2 emergency notes, and pre-WW2 currency.--Jeroen

Most likely an anting-anting, or amulet coin. The Eagle biting a snake is a typical Mexican symbol, but Mexican pesos normally mention the name of the country.--Jeroen.

The container containing the one-peso coins was set to be smuggled into Pusan, they said, and had a face value of some P30 million. about 666,000 dollars.

Customs officers seized the shipment on Thursday during a raid on a warehouse at Manila port following a tipoff, said Jimmy Perez, spokesman for the government's anti-smuggling task force.

They were going to ship it to South Korea where they would have been melted down for their copper and nickel content, Perez said.

The metals are used in the manufacture of computer chips.

No arrests were made but Perez said they are looking into the involvement of a local crime syndicate which may include employees of some banks who help in accumulating the coins. There have been several instances in the past of Filipino coins being smuggled out of the country to be melted down for their metal.

The Philippine Central Bank is minting new coins out of cheaper metal to curtail this practice.

Task force chief undersecretary Antonio Villar in an interview with a television network said that extracting copper and nickel from the coins is apparently more economical than mining the metals.

He quoted informants as saying a crime syndicate has been shipping the coins every week.

This is economic sabotage because we will soon be running out of coins, said Villar.

The export of Philippine coins is forbidden by law.

What is the cause of this? Inflation, caused by the government who puts more into circulation than is warranted by the economic output of the country, thereby undermining the value of money, and thereby levying an (unofficial) tax on peoples savings. A century ago the peso was made of silver, and had the purchasing power of about 500 pesos today. Now lets talk about economic sabotage.--Jeroen

Who should be in jail? Have those coins been stolen then? In a free and open society, trade in coins across borders should not land you in jail.--Jeroen.

Hmmm, odd question, the only Philippine 25 Peso coins I known of are made of silver, and in most circumstances that is a better conductor...--Jeroen

Remind me to change my e-address to .com.ph.

You use English. About 30% of the visitors to this site visit it from the US. This site is hosted in the US (both cheaper and faster than trying to host it in the Philippines) All signs of US dominance. Furthermore, in the current, economically interconnected world, "independence" is limited.--Jeroen.

Well, the site wasn't made for that, but you are certainly welcome. Maybe a dedicated Philippine coin site can be set up at some later time.--Jeroen.

I have one US-PHIL 10 centavo old coin since 1908.if anyone interested email me.

You forget one very important thing: prices of staple food are also up considerably. We are looking at two combined processes here: the slide of the dollar, and the growing price pressure on natural resources due to the growth of Asian economies. The slide of the dollar is actually (up to a certain level) beneficial the the US, as it finds its foreign debts (denominated in dollars) reduced, whereas its foreign possession (often valued in currencies such as the euro or yen) remain the same. At the same time, US products become much more attractive on world market.

It is very difficult to predict what this will lead to. Modern currencies are fiat currencies, which large corporate banks can print almost at will. By easy lending, banks have created a bubble in prices for houses (as people will pay what they can for a house, and easy lending enables them to pay a lot) When this bubble burst, a lot of this fictional money will simply disappear. As a result, people are trying to get rid of dollars and obtain assets perceived as more stable, such as gold or other currencies. This will continue until the credit crisis in the US is resolved.

The prices for crude oil and staple food are partly pushed up by the sliding dollar, and partly by increased demand. The demand will grow, regardless of how the financial crisis in the US will be resolved, so I don't expect that to stop. Increased prices are actually not that bad news for mainly agricultural provinces such as Bohol, as it will enable farmers to invest in growing rice and copra, as well as biofuels.

As to expectations. I cannot predict the future, but don't be surprised with the dollar sliding to 50 eurocents or 35 pesos, and the oil going through 300 dollars within a year.--Jeroen.

Thank you for this post. Quality is very important when evaluating coins, but most requests for values don't even mention that. I've found it impossible to obtain Philippine coins at reasonable prizes in the Philippines. Outside the Philippines, Philippine coins are sold at prices considerably lower than those asked in the Philippines, and more in line with what you state.--Jeroen.

The coin was in circulation for a short time during the early American era, but was not popular, and quickly discontinued.--Jeroen.

That is one approach to coin collecting, but others can have a different attitude. For myself, having a little piece of history in hand, something that somebody used hundreds of years ago, and that has an attractive or interesting design is what makes collecting coins nice, and I typically avoid what is called "non-circulating legal tender" coins, such as those mentioned above.--Jeroen.

Serial numbers help the issuing bank to track both usage and durability of banknotes, and act as an additional measure against counterfeiting. Note that banknote serial numbers are not always sequential, but have certain characteristics that you can use to verify the number is valid. They can also help to track armed robbers, who will be given a set of notes with numbers registered in advance, and never given to customers. I have no clue what the asterisks are for.--Jeroen

In the Philippines, few libraries will have it. However, the Krause catalog is a great resource, but it's prices are oriented towards the U.S. market. Going prices in the Philippines may be different, that is, more expensive for rare coins (bigger demand), but cheaper for common coins (bigger supply). Note also some traders use the prices of Krause, but without taking into account proper grading. I typically found it cheaper to buy Philippine coins abroad.--Jeroen.

These belong to an older series of coins, which are no longer in use. I will try to add details on these to the site.--Jeroen.

The 1972 1 peso coin is cupro-nickel, not silver, and claiming it is worth 1000 pesos is far over the top. If somebody comes to your door with that story, it may be for some completely different reason, such as finding out where you keep your money in the house. The exact price is determined by market forces, and for collectors depends on the quality of the coin. Coins in brand new condition will be worth much more than worn or polished coins. Note that I've never bought Philippine coins in the Philippines; the asking prices are far too high, and often several times of what is asked for the same coins in Europe.--Jeroen.

A word of caution: NEVER clean or polish your coins. Valuable “dirty” coins can lose significant value though “cleaning”. Thanks!

Thank you.

They are definitely not from the year 1101, and are probably not money. What they are, and what they are worth, I don't know.--Jeroen.

Nobody can give a market value for a coin without seeing it, and assessing its condition. There is no silver in 1972 circulation Philippine Peso coins.--Jeroen.

It does not need to be cleaned or polished, just like the antiques and the paintings, to preserve its value. It also open my eyes, that there are coin collectors in the Philippines, not just in the antique shops. Just like in painting, yyou have to collect some named artists and some are incoming to be great. Coin collections is knowing the art of collecting, and the history that it was created.

In painting, the priced value will depend on the the year it was created, the artist who made it, and the accomplishment the artist made, popularity and his contribution to the art, will be a part in dictating the price.

I remember one artist I know, and this is Dean Jose Joya. The first time I saw his painting, it worth only P30,000.00, but after three weeks when I came back to the gallery, the price of the painting went up three times of the price I've seen three weeks ago, Dean Joya that time was in a coma. But after a month, it went up again ten times, I've heard that Dean Joya passed away, the reason why the price went up, no more production from the artist can be done.

In coin collection, the advantage now is the internet, where you can browse and explore about how much your collection sell in the market. Coin collecting is much more fun, you have to hunt for an old kind of domination. Sometimes you can hit the jackpot, when you find a good valued coin at the lower price. Different designs attract me a lot in collecting this item, it just like a mini sculpture, that need to be display, not only in a clear book, but have it frame, to make it more appreciative item. Coin colection, is like collecting one nation, their culture that was molded in the piece of silver, nickel or gold.

This is my first time, and I hope that to know more about this section....

As always, the price of things is determined by supply and demand. Once an artist dies, the supply of new works will end, and only existing works can be re-sold. This may increase the price dramatically if the artist becomes famous (Such as Van Gogh, who only sold one painting while alive, and whose works now fetch millions). However, most artists never become famous, so demand remains low. As with coins, my advise is: primarily buy art because you like it's beauty, not as an investment, unless you are a professional in the field.--Jeroen.

Originally, proof sets where made by a mint to present to dignitaries for official purposes. They are carefully made and handled, and typically packed in a nice box. Nowadays, proof sets are also made for collectors, and some collectors pay considerably more for them.--Jeroen.

I have no idea on values. They also issued commorative banknotes.--Jeroen.

ps. Victoria, nagtatagalog ako para madali sa directang sinusulatan ko na mas sanay sa tagalog, but if you want it in english no problem for me, I am more comfortable in the english medium :) also, this is a coin forum not a language forum. F.Y.I. ?!

These coins would grade mint state MS65. All inquries should be directed to my e-mail address: kra19@verizon.net

A little history might be nice. The current coinage that is accepted now was introduced in 1995, and in 1998 all previous coinages were demonetized, and there the situation has scarecely changed, with only the introduction of the 10 Piso coin in 2000.

There are however quite a number of distinct periods:

1) Pre-Hispanic, based largely on gold bullion and barter, but also the distinctive "piloncito" which came in various sizes, undated, but featuring a pre-Hispanic Philippine character stamped on them.

2) Early Hispanic, pre-coinage, based largely on foreign currencies, notably the Spanish "cob" coinage, but also other foreign currencies, gold, and barter, but with no distinctive Philippine coinage of any kind.

3) Spanish Barilla period, 1728-1766, the beginnings of distinctive Philippine coinage (except for the Piloncito), characterized by a small number of mostly experimental pieces, but the main economy otherwise unchanged from the second period.

4) Spanish Octavo/Quarto period, 1770's-1835. Small copper coins valued at an eighth (octavo) and fourth (quarto) of a Spanish Reale, contracted by the Spanish government to various Chinese coinmakers (some of whom obviously had serious trouble with European alphabets) at last began to be a small but noticeable medium of exchange. Quite a number of interesting things also came about in this period: A small, undated silver coin with the Spanish lion on one side and a pillar on the other, the first Philippine coins to bear a human portrait (Spanish King Ferdinand VI), counterstamped silver (and a very few gold) coins, at first saying "MANILA" but later featuring a tiny crown with the letters of the current Spanish ruler, FVI or YII, used on foreign coinage, still very much the mainstay of commerce, the introduction of the double and quadruple "quarto" in 1834, only to be cancelled after 1835 by the new reigning queen of Spain, Isabela II.

5) First Casa de Moneda era, 1861-1878, in 1857 Queen Isabel gave direction for a mint to be contructed in the Philippines, and in 1861 it was complete and began churning out one, two, and four Peso gold pieces, bearing her likeness. In 1964 the 10 and 20 Centavo fractional coins, in silver and also bearing her likeness, but facing the other way, were introduced. In 1865 the 50 Centavo coin was introduced, consistent with the 10 and 20, thus completing the run of denominations for this era. After 1868 when Isabel was driven from her throne no new dies were made so all coins from this era made thereafter bear the 1868 date, making that by far the most common and easy date for collectors to procure, especially in high grades.

6) Second Casa de Moneda era, 1880-1898, King Alphonse XII of Spain restarted the coinage of Philippine money, but with a slightly lower silver alloy and only a single gold denomination, the 4 Peso. This coinage bears his likeness (and again he faces the opposite way on the gold coin), and also makes reference to the Spanish Constitution. The 4 peso was only minted in minescule numbers, it is not even known if any were struck in 1883 or 1884 at all. As with Isabel II, Alphonse XII also lost power and no new coin dies were delivered after 1885, so all coins minted on and off for years afterwords bear that date.

7) Alphonse XIII era, 1890's, One Peso struck in 1897, in silver, bearing the likeness of Spanish boy King Alphonse XIII, struck in Spain. An interesting pattern centavo, struck in 1894, closely anticipates the size, weight, and alloy specifications for the future American One Centavo.

8) Revolutionary era, 1898-1902, a few interesting pattern coppers were struck by Aguinaldo's government, but these saw little to no circulation, as commerce continued to depend upon Spanish and other foreign coins (including American), and also the rise of the first wave of "guerrilla notes."

9) American colonial era, 1903-1936, Conant coinage (reasons and details discussed in the above article). In the beginning all denominations were struck both for circulation and proof sets in Philadelphia, with San Francisco only helping out with a few of the silver issues. In 1904 San Francisco takes over minting the silver issues, but base metal issues continue to be struck in Philadelphia. While the unpopularity and discontinuance of the half centavo and the rising price of silver driving the size and alloy reductions in 1907, what is not so well known is the role the Philippines had in enabling US branch mints to coin base-metal coinage. Until 1908, branch mints were only allowed to coin gold and silver, while Philadelphia minted all the base-metal (copper, mickel...) coins. This had something do do with why no five centavos were struck for circulation in the Philippines from 1905 to 1915 and why no one centavos were struck for circulation in 1906 and 1907. The goal was that, except for proof set coinage, all Philippine coins would be struck in San Francisco to cut down on shipping costs from the mint to the Philippines. In 1908 San Francisco base-metal coins, the Philippine one centavo, along with the first branch-mint American Indian Cent. In 1911 this permission finally extended to the Denver mint, and in 1912 both San Francisco and Denver began minting American nickels, and San Francisco began making the five centavo pieces for the Philippines in 1916. Of course as we know the Manila mint opened in 1920, commemorated with copper, silver, and a very few gold "Wilson Dollars," mysteriously closed down for a couple years (1923 and 1924), and functioned continuously from 1925 until its destruction by the Japanese at the end of 1941.

10) The Commonwealth era, 1935-1946, is there any other time in history that a soverign world power ever did so right by a separate nation as America did by the Philippines during and after this Commonwealth era by turning over their country to them in stages, exactly as promised, and meanwhile fighting a major war to drive out the Japanese, all in time to hand over their country whole hog, right on schedule? The new design for the coinage paid homage not only to the former American era, but to the Spanish and the pre-Hispanic eras. Three coins commemorate incoming Commonwealth president Quezon and outgoing General Murphy and American President Roosevelt. After the Japanese destroy the mint, their paper money prevails along with the second wave of "guerrilla notes." Then the Americans return, minting the coins in America as at the start. The Americans were going to turn over their mint in Manila to the new Philippine government in 1946 but "thanks" to the Japanese there was no mint let to turn over.

11) English Series era, 1958-1966, the inspired designs of Melecio Figueroa were resurrected this one more time. The 20 centavos (minted from 1864 by the Spanish clear until 1946 (dated 1945) by the Americans is at last replaced with the more conventional 25 centavos. These coins are made in USA through 1963 but in 1964 onward they are made in England and Germany.

12) Pilipino Series era, 1967-1975, except for some Leper colony coins issued from 1913 to 1930 (and even there only starting with a Peso issued in 1925), these are the first regular circulation coins honoring Phillipine heroes Lapu-lapu, Melchora Aquino, Francisco Baltasar, Juan Luna, Marcelo del Pilar, and Jose Rizal. The one Peso, not circulated outside the leper colony (and that was the special coins made for the colony) had not been placed in circulation since 1912 finally returns in 1972.

13) Ang Bagong Lipuna era, 1975-1982, the square sentimo, the squiggly-shaped five sentimos, and so forth. These coins are actually rather difficult to find in high grades (excluding proofs) as this was an unhappy period for the Philippines so nobody wanted to hoard high grade specimens of these coins. This period came in two phases, each 4 years long, between which there were minor coin design changes to the seal on the reverse to simplify the design, making the man with the gear larger and eliminating other elements, and changing the inscription on the "ribbon" on the seal on the Piso. The 50 sentimos denomination was done away with.

14) Flora and Fauna era, 1983-1994, featuring various plants and animals known and loved in the Philippines. The 50 sentimos coin was returned to production, along with the 2 pesos which had not seen production since its mintage by the Spanish as a gold coin in the 1870's (dated 1868). This too comes in two phases, the first 8 years long and the second the remaining four. For the second phase, the 25 sentimos brass coin shrunk, the 50 sentimos coin also shrunk and changed alloy, the piso shrank, the two piso shrank and changed from a many-sided coin to a round one, and a five piso coin was introduced, commemorating Emilio Aguinaldo.

15) The current era, 1995-current, described and pictured above.

Thanks for the long explanation, Griff. We are planning to add articles to this website on each of these eras, and show samples of each of the coins.--Jeroen

I can give scans of the 1906-S peso in my collection and other coins and notes for the site if you are interested. Just let me know what you need pictured

Would be nice if you contacted me directly instead of me posting the discussions on the boards

Perhaps you could design a database of Phil. coins with corresponding scanned images.

The reason floating rates happened and near hyper inflation--is the US cheated. Prior to early 1970's, the US dollar is pegged to gold (since the US is the Rome of today it holds the world economy hostage). So when the Vietnam war escalated the US debt rose. So if foreign countries like Switzerland and Japan will collect gold for their US dollars the US would go bankrupt. By a stroke of a pen Nixon freed the US dollar from the gold thus almost reducing American debt by 50%. Japan and Switzerland had to follow the "fait accompli" or they would hold worthless paper US dollars, thus the world went to "floating currencies."

Inflation is strictly being defined as the supply of money. Thus "money" then being circulated is controlled borrowings by a country's Central Bank or equivalent. So the concept of money is based of confidence and trust. The country's currency is based on its gold holdings and other assets versus is debts and obligations.

I hope your website remains active and perhaps the normal Filipino citizen could pursue this worthwhile hobby if his economic situation improves. I guess the Filipino middle income (the real backbone of democracy) is disappearing.

Getting a database on-line would be great idea, if some people here are willing to scan their coins (just on a flat-bed scanner, at least 600 DPI full color, use a piece of black paper as a background), for inclusion here. Especially those having coins in nice qualities. I can add a few pages to this website if I get enough submissions. The same is true for banknotes.

Whether leaving the gold standard was a bad thing or not is an endless discussion. I myself tend to think that you can't eat gold as much as you can't eat paper, so it makes little difference. Money is merely a means of administrating how much of the pie belongs to who. If you study monetary history, currencies have been loosing purchasing power for centuries. This really isn't something new. You're right that (hyper)inflation is something that hurts the middle class most: the poor classes have no money to loose anyway, whereas the rich have their assets savely in things like real estate, factories, etc., that are not that much affected by inflation.

The US has a huge outstanding debt, which is of some concern to other countries, but it has one benefit: the debt is written in terms of its own currency, which is not the case for the Philippines. If the US want to reduce its debt by inflation, that would also mean that the Philippine debt would be reduced, as that too is mainly denominated in US dollars. Whether it is going to happen I don't know.--Jeroen

The price of things is determined about supply and demand. Good business people know this, and will take their loss when needed, without pleading they bought at the wrong moment.--Jeroen.

Mike, maybe you can post their address here. I wouldn't even call such a thing a fake. It is just a paperweight... There are also fakes that can fool an honest trader, but these certainly are better than casts. In general, my impression of the market for antiques and collectibles in the Philippines is, that it is very undeveloped. On one side, many items are stolen (from churches, etc., even graves), or bought from farmers for give-away prices (teak furniture, wood carvings from old houses). On the other hand, traders highly overprice unrestored items. One nasty result is that more Boholano antiques can now be found packed and rotting away in warehouses in Manila, than in the churches or homes of Bohol where they belong.

An interesting collection would be contemporary fakes, that is fakes not made to fool collectors, but the public at the time the coins were in circulation. When I was in India, I regularly came across such things, mostly made of lead. I haven't seen them in the Philippines (but then, haven't been looking for them also).--Jeroen.

Thanks for the advise. I've never bought coins from vendors in the Philippines, since they ask more than for which I can buy the same in Europe, and totally disregard grade. Also, my advise is to collect for fun, not for investment. If you want to invest, almost anything else will give better returns. Anyway, before you spend more than small change on coins, document yourself with catalogs and books on collecting.

For those afraid of fakes. The most common fake you can come across in the Philippines are cast, of which the original is worth a few dollars or more. They can typically be recognized by their 'soapy' feel. Normally the cast is not perfect, and you will see small imperfections in flat areas, where air remained during the casting process. Also, you may notice that the insides of letters, like the letter A are filled with metal.--Jeroen.

You are right, if it just is about significant monetary value, but many younger collectors cannot invest anything in their collection but the most modest amounts, and for them, it is fun to be able to collect coins as well. Giving young collectors these coins (anything from early American Era until the previous series of Peso coins) can create an interest in collecting coins. In long term, they may be able to also buy more expensive coins. Remember that the value of coins (above their bullion value) is determined by collectors who want to add them to their collections, not just for monetary value, but to touch a piece of history... all the rest is speculation.--Jeroen.

I wouldn't believe that. Those coins are very common. I think demonetizing them was a neat trick to generate some nice income for the government.--Jeroen.

2 cents only--Jeroen.

Thanks. The webmaster will post answer to your quest soon. ---Bebie

Only the series of coins depicted here are still legal tender. The older coins are now demonetized. If you don't look, they will sometimes still give them, but they are mostly gone now.--Jeroen

As found on the Banko Sentral website: All notes and coins issued by the Bangko Sentral shall be fully guaranteed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and shall be legal tender in the Philippines for all debts, both public and private: Provided, however, That, unless otherwise fixed by the Monetary Board, coins shall be legal tender in amounts not exceeding Fifty pesos (P50.00) for denominations of Twenty-five centavos and above, and in amounts not exceeding Twenty pesos (P20.00) for denominations of Ten centavos or less.--Jeroen

This coin has been demonetized, and cannot be used anymore. The only value it has is to collectors, who would like to keep one, but its value even for them is not much, as there are plenty of these coins.--Jeroen.