Part 9 in the History of Philippine Paper Money looks into the English Series of banknotes, some of the most beautiful Filipino banknotes ever produced – English Series (1949-1970).
The English Series
The English Series is the only series of Filipino banknotes to exclusively use English wording. All non-fractional notes bore a Filipino national hero on the obverse and a scene depicting a significant historical event in the Philippines on the reverse.
This series was first printed in 1949 and consisted of the fractional notes in 5, 10, 20 and 50 centavos denominations as replacements for the existing coinage of the time. Peso notes were added in 1951 in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 pesos denominations. Fractional notes were printed until 1957. The larger notes (100, 200 and 500 peso notes) were also discontinued in 1957. In 1957 the 50 centavos notes was discontinued in favor of a 1/2 peso note whose design was more closely aligned to the peso notes in this series. In January 1970 the fractional notes were demonetized with the remainder of the series following suite in February 1974.
The collector will most likely find challenges securing the 500 peso note for a good price and collecting all signature types (8 variants exist on the 1p note alone).
Image
Denomination/Years
Notes
Type P125
Type P126
5 Centavos 1949-1957
Type P125: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno (1949 only) Type 126: Signatures Magsaysay / Cuaderno (1953)
Type 127
Type 128
10 Centavos 1949-1957
Type 127: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno (1949 only) Type 128: Signatures Magsaysay / Cuaderno (1953)
Type 129
Type 130a
Type 130b
20 Centavos 1949-1957
Type 129: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno (1949 only) Type 130a: Signatures Magsaysay / Cuaderno (1953) Type 130b: Signatures Garcia / Cuaderno (1957)
Type 131
50 Centavos 1949-1957
Type 131: Signatures Magsaysay / Cuaderno
Type P132
1/2 Peso 1957-1961
Type P132: Signatures Garcia / Cuaderno
Type 133d
Type P133h
1 Peso 1951-1961
Type 133a has the word “GENUINE” printed very faintly on the front in tan. Type 133b does not.
Type P133a: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno (1951) Type P33b: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno (1951-1953) Type P133c: Signatures Magsaysay / Cuaderno (1953-1957) Type P133d: Signatures Garcia / Cuaderno (1957-1960) Type P133e: Signatures Garcia / Castillo (1961) Type P133f: Signatures Macapagal / Castillo (1961-1965) Type P133g: Signatures Marcos / Castillo (1965-1967) Type P133h: Signatures Marcos / Calalang (1968-1970)
Type P134d
2 Pesos 1951-1965
Type P134a: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno (1951-1953) Type P134b: Signatures Magsaysay / Cuaderno (1953-1957) Type P134c: Signatures Garcia / Castillo (1961) Type P134d: Signatures Macapagal / Castillo (1961-1965)
Type 135b
Type P135d
Type 135e
Type 135f
5 Pesos 1951-1970
Type P135a: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno (1951-1953) Type P135b: Signatures Magsaysay / Cuaderno (1953-1957) Type P135c: Signatures Garcia / Cuaderno (1957-1960) Type P135d: Signatures Garcia / Castillo (1961) Type P135e: Signatures Macapagal / Castillo (1961-1965) Type P135f: Signatures Marcos / Licaros (1968-1970)
Type 136e
10 Pesos 1951-1970
Type P136a: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno (1951-1953) Type P136b: Signatures Magsaysay / Cuaderno (1953-1957) Type P136c: Signatures Garcia / Cuaderno (1957-1960) Type P136d: Signatures Garcia / Castillo (1961) Type P136e: Signatures Macapagal / Castillo (1961-1965) Type P136f: Signatures Marcos / Licaros (1968-1970)
Type 137d
20 Pesos 1951-1970
Type P137a: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno (1951-1953) Type P137b: Signatures Magsaysay / Cuaderno (1953-1957) Type P137c: Signatures Garcia / Castillo (1961) Type P137d: Signatures Macapagal / Castillo (1961-1965) Type P137e: Signatures Marcos / Licaros (1968-1970)
Type P138d
50 Pesos 1951-1962
Type P138a: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno (1951-1953) Type P138b: Signatures Magsaysay / Cuaderno (1953-1957) Type P138c: Signatures Garcia / Cuaderno (1957-1960) Type P138d: Signatures Macapagal / Castillo (1961-1962)
Type P139
100 Pesos 1949-1957
Type P139: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno
Type P140
200 Pesos 1951-1957
Type P140: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno
Type P141
500 Pesos 1951-1957
Type P141: Signatures Quirino / Cuaderno
Personally, I think the peso notes in this series are the most beautiful series of Philippine banknotes produced to date due to their incredible detail and imagery.