TEN Pesos: An Independence Day Tribute

Probably one of the most confused denomination of the Peso in my opinion, the Ten Peso bill or coin originally had the face of Apolinario Mabini, also known as "Dakilang Lumpo".


Mabini, in my imagination, must have been furious. One, for branding him as the grand disabled; and two, for eventually sharing his bill and coin with Andres Bonifacio who also appeared in the P2 coin, which was unfortunately discontinued.


This Independence day blog entry is a tribute to the great Mabini. Why is he so notable?


Apolinario Mabini wrote the constitution of the First Republic of the Philippines, and served as its first Prime Minister. 

ONE, TWO, FIVE, and FIFTY Peso Coins

The leftmost one-peso coin is the rarest in the collection. A 1907-1908 series, this coin still shows an American design of coin at the back, and the name FELIPINAS at the face of the coin -- the only indication that the coin was circulated in the Philippines. The next coin was already produced by the Central Bank of the Philippines, showing the national hero Jose P. Rizal. To this day, Rizal is still in the face of the one-peso coin.

Two peso coins were not created until the latter part of the century. This coin has been short-lived and is no longer produced today. The two-peso coin shows the face of Andres Bonifacio, the leader of the revolutionary group Katipunan whose death involved a controversy of politics and power play in the hands of another Filipino hero.

The rare five-peso coin (leftmost in the photo) released to mark the beginning of the Martial Law in September 21, 1972 (Ang Bagong Lipunan) showed the face of former president Ferdinand Marcos, who was the first politician in Philippine history to be taken out of ranks through a mass display of democracy in the People Power Revolution in 1986. A remarkable graduate of the University of the Philippines and a bar top-notcher despite studying while in prison, Ferdinand Marcos has yet to be convicted of any crime due to the lack of evidence. He died from renal failure, but has not yet been buried to this day. His remains lie preserved in the Marcos Museum in Laoag, Ilocos Norte.


The fifty-peso coin was created to commemorate the visit of Pope John Paul II to the Philippines.


For interested collectors, please contact the Philippine Peso Collector through email at philippinepesocollector@gmail.com.

TEN, TWENTY-FIVE, FIFTY Centavos

The first coins in the photo with the woman on the face of the coin were all produced and released during the American Colonial Period. This was prior to the establishment of the Central Bank of the Philippines in 1949. 

Upon the creation of the Central Bank (1949-1992), the faces of the coins showed a series of Filipino heroes during the Spanish Colonial Era. 

The ten centavo coins showed the face of Francisco Baltazar, a well renowned writer and poet who authored the famous book Florante at Laura.

The twenty-five centavo coins had the face of Juan Luna, a revolutionary artist who painted murals such as the Spolarium -- a painting depicting the suffering of the Filipinos under the reign of the Spaniards.

The fifty centavo coin shows the face of Marcelo H. Del Pilar, a writer who published La Solidaridad, which became an avenue for revolutionaries to voice out their grief and desire to fight the malevolent Spanish friars. The back of the coin shows the national animal -- the Philippine Eagle.

For interested collectors, please contact the Philippine Peso Collector through email at philippinepesocollector@gmail.com.  

ONE and FIVE Centavos

Due to a lack of use for very small denominations of the peso, one centavo coins are no longer produced by the BSP. The leftmost one centavo coin was used during the American Colonial Period, while the next three were produced in the latter half of the century showing the face of the first recorded Filipino hero, Datu Lapu-lapu of Mactan, who fought against the Spaniards and prevented their entry to the Philippines in the early 1500s.

Five centavo coins are still in circulation today. The modern coin (not in photo) is a small bronze-colored coin with a circular hole in the middle. The first two 5-centavo coins in the photo are both from the American Colonial Period with the same man in the face of the coin, but differed in size. The next two, produced also in the latter half of the century showed the face of Melchora Aquino, a female hero in the Spanish Colonial Era also referred to as "Tandang Sora".

For interested collectors, please contact the Philippine Peso Collector through email at philippinepesocollector@gmail.com.

The ARROVO bill

In 2005, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas released P100 bills that had former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's last name spelled as ARROVO. Days after its release, the error was discovered and the bills were immediately taken out of circulation. The 2005 100-peso bills with serial number starting with AL, AK, AM are all "Arrovo" bills. 

Interested collectors of this bill may contact The Philippine Peso Collector through email at philippinepesocollector@gmail.com.