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.
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.
