3. History of Philippine Paper Money

United States Issues – Insular Government of the Philippines

After signing the Treaty of Paris in 1898 and taking control of the Philippines the U.S. established the Insular Government of the Philippines. This can be a complicated and overwhelming period for the collector as there were many different types of notes, different note providers and often subtle differences from one year to the next. I will do my best to untangle and simplify it all in the next few sections.

The key dates and banknotes issued include:

• 1903-1916 – Silver Certificates.
• 1908-1908 – Standard banknotes from the El Banco Espanol Filipino.
• 1912-1937 – Standard banknotes from the Bank of the Philippine Islands (formerly the El Banco Espanol-Filipino).
• 1918-1941 – Treasury Certificates (as a continuation of and replacement for Silver Certificates).
• 1916-1937 – Circulating notes from the Philippine National Bank.

Banknotes were not produced in every year between 1903 and 1941, the table below illustrates the years where banknotes of different types were produced.

Silver Certificates, Treasury Certificates and Circulating Notes were all backed by the U.S Government. Standard banknotes as issued by El Banco Espanol Filipino and the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) were not government guaranteed. The designs on these banknotes is quite different from the Silver Certificates, Treasury Certificates and Circulating Notes (which had more of an American influence).

In this section we will focus specifically on the Standard Note types as issued between 1908 and 1937. The others note types will follow in the next sections.

Standard Banknotes

In section 1 I introduced the El Banco Español Filipino and some of the banknotes they produced during the Spanish era. The El Banco Español Filipino was barred from issuing banknotes under the new American Colonial Insular Government. It was not until 1908 that this decision would be reversed and the bank be granted the ability to once again produce banknotes for the Philippines. Banknotes produced in 1908 were printed wholly in Spanish. In 1912 the bank was renamed to the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and English was adopted on the banknotes along with a change in the seal. Standard banknotes as identified below were not guaranteed by the U.S. treasury.

2 different seals in Red, blue or orange were used in this series:

Image	Denomination/Years	Notes
not acquired	2 Pesos Standard Note 1912 (Type P12) 1928 (Type P21)	Issuer: BPI. Woman seated with scale and shield and with blue seal #2. Orange dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	5 Pesos (Cinco Pesos) Standard Note 1908 (Type P1)	Issuer: El Banco Español Filipino. Woman seated at left, blue seal #1 and red sun rays. Red dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	5 Pesos Standard Note 1912 (Type P7)	Issuer: BPI. Woman sitting on left with red seal #2. Green dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	5 Pesos Standard Note 1920 (Type P13)	Issuer: BPI. Woman seated at left, blue seal #2 and red sun rays. Orange dominant colour on reverse.
Type P22a	5 Pesos Standard Note 1928 (Type P16) 1933 (Type 22a)	Issuer: BPI. Woman seated at left, blue seal #2. Orange dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	10 Pesos (Diez Pesos) Standard Banknote 1908 (Type P2)	Issuer: El Banco Español Filipino. Woman with flowers on front with blue seal #1. Brown dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	10 Pesos Standard Banknote 1912 (Type P8) 1920 (Type P14)	Issuer: BPI. Woman with flowers on front with blue seal #2 and yellow rays from sun on front. Brown dominant colour on reverse. Type P14 has yellow sun rays on front. Type P17 & Type P23 have no sun rays.
Type P23	10 Pesos Standard Banknote 1928 (Type P17) 1933 (Type P23)	Issuer: BPI. Woman with flowers on front with blue seal #2 on front. Brown dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	20 Pesos Standard Banknote 1912 (Type P9) 1920 (Type P15)	Issuer: BPI. Woman on left, orange seal #2. Orange dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	20 Pesos Standard Note 1928 (Type P18) 1933 (Type P24)	Issuer: BPI. Woman on left, blue seal #2. Yellow dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	50 Pesos Standard Banknote 1908 (Type P4)	Issuer: El Banco Español Filipino. Woman standing on right holding flowers with red seal #1. Red dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	50 Pesos Standard Banknote 1912 (Type P10)	Issuer: BPI. Woman standing on right holding flowers with red seal #2. Red dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	50 Pesos Standard Banknote 1928 (Type P19)	Issuer: BPI. Woman on left, red seal #2. Brown primary colour on reverse.
not acquired	100 Pesos (Cien Pesos) Standard Note 1908 (Type P5)	Issuer: El Banco Español Filipino. Woman on left with scroll and globe, red seal #1. Olive green dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	100 Pesos Standard Note 1912 (Type P11)	Issuer: BPI. Woman on left with scroll and globe, red seal #2. Green dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	100 Pesos Standard Note 1928 (Type P20)	Issuer: BPI. Woman on left with scroll and globe, red seal #2. Olive green dominant colour on reverse.
not acquired	200 Pesos Standard Note 1908 (Type P6)	Issuer: El Banco Español Filipino. Woman seated with scale and shield with blue seal #1. Orange dominant colour on reverse.

Read on for Silver Certificates, Treasury Certificates and Circulating notes.